All 3 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movies ranked worst to best

The world of Harry Potter grew considerably with the introduction of Newt Scamander in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. This franchise continued with three movies, telling more of a story of a young Albus Dumbledore than anything else.

While the focus on young Dumbledore and his connection to the evil wizard Grindelwald was important, not all three movies hold up perfectly against each other. Some of them are better developed in terms of storytelling and graphics compared to the others. Here’s our definitive ranking of the trilogy.

3. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

Over the course of a little more than two hours, we get the reminder that Grindelwald is a villain and he’s escaped from prison. There’s a team dispatched to get him back, and that leads us on another magical journey. The problem is that this magical journey is one that we’ve seen over and over again. There’s nothing fresh about the story, even if the world of Harry Potter is the first introduction to this type of storyline. It’s already been done in the Harry Potter movies.

It's a shame, as well. The movie’s graphics are outstanding, and the deeper dive into the Wizarding World could have been interesting. Just the weakest plot in the entire franchise lets it down.

I do think that this movie suffered from what a lot of sequels suffer from. The first movie was just so good that it had a lot to live up to, so the expectations were high. Because of the failings, it meant the third movie looked better.

2. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

Speaking of the third movie, that’s the next one on our list. This one still isn’t as good as the Harry Potter movies, but it does bring some drama, intrigue, and stronger storytelling than the second movie in the Fantastic Beasts trilogy.

Jude Law is excellent as a younger Dumbledore. He captures everything that we would expect, both as a book and a movie fan of the franchise. However, the script just wasn’t there to really do the character full justice. Law did what he could with the role.

Surprisingly, the recasting of Grindelwald didn’t bring the movie down at all. Mads Mikkelsen is one outstanding actor, so if anyone was going to take on the role, it had to be him. He took away some of the psychotic-ness of the character, but added a darker layer to it, which he marvellously does with all his characters. Again, the downside is the writing; it just isn’t there.

1. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Out of the three Harry Potter prequel movies, the first one is the best. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that maybe this should have been a one-and-done, rather than set up a franchise. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them had everything we needed: the focus on a new character, intriguing animals that we couldn’t get enough of, and the expansion of the Wizarding World.

There was magic and mayhem throughout the movie, and if the trilogy really wanted to succeed, it should have been focused on Newt Scamander’s adventures. He’s the one who found all these ingenious creatures and learned about them. It was a door to a whole new magical world, introducing the different types of magic across the globe.

It still doesn’t hold up against the Harry Potter movies, though. The introduction of Credence Barebone was a waste of time, and even Eddie Redmayne doesn’t quite give the type of performance we’ve come to know him offer in other works. It’s worth a watch, though, and it’s a lot of fun for the whole family.