Fantastic Beasts The Secrets of Dumbledore first reviews are surprisingly good: 'Magical homage to Harry Potter films'

The early reviews of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore have called the film the best in the series but criticised it for being unsure if it's a ‘Beasts’ film or a ‘Harry Potter’ film.

The third installment of the Fantastic Beasts series is all set for release. Titled Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, the film is an attempt by the producers to revive the franchise and connect it to the hugely popular and successful Harry Potter series. The first early reviews for the film are in and in a good news for fans, they are all positive. Many critics have already called it the best Fantastic Beasts film, although the bar for that is a bit low anyway.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore releases on April 8.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore stars Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler, Jessica Williams, and Katherine Waterson. It also introduces Mads Mikkelsen as the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald. The actor is taking over from Johnny Depp, who played the role in the first two films. The Fantastic Beasts series is a rough prequel to the Harry Potter series, as it is set in the same universe and features many of the same characters.

International critics, who watched an early press show of the film, have taken to social media to give their brief opinion of the film now. Xandra Habert, who reviews films for Looper, has called the film "a magical menagerie of homages to the Potter films". She added that the film rectifies many of the flaws of its predecessor, which was critically panned.

Ian Sandwell of Digital Spy also called the film an 'improvement' upon its predecessor and praised Mads Mikkelsen in particular. In his tweet, the critic called the actor "a huge upgrade". Collider's Perri Nemiroff also praised the film, calling it "a big bounce back for the #FantasticBeasts series". Griffin Schiller of FilmSpeak applauded the work of the film's screenwriter Steve Kloves saying that he "miraculously salvages a sinking ship", calling the film the best of the series so far.

However, all critics were unanimous in their verdict that the film isn't without its flaws. Ian Sandwell's issue with the film is that it is "unsure if it's a Beasts film or a Harry Potter film". Griffin Schiller, on the other hand, argues that despite being better, "it doesn’t fully fix the larger issues w/the series".

Directed by David Yates, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore releases in the UK, China, and India on April 8 and in the US and Canada the following week. The film has reportedly been made on a budget of $185 million.