Animals with unusual abilities, a school where mysterious things go on, live photos on print media – oh, are we back at Hogwarts? Unfortunately no. “Fantastic Beasts 3” in the spring of 2022 before itschool of magic animals“Their gates. However what emerges behind it is neither original nor particularly attractive.

The golden drawing board on which the calculated box office hit for fantasy-spirited offspring shines very clearly in the title. Elementary school kids, for whom the best-selling book series of the same name by Margit Auer is primarily targeted, probably shouldn’t have a problem. The film adaptation of Gregor Schnitzler (“The Cloud”) should have given him more funny ideas and crazy jokes than the usual messages like “Friendship is the most important thing” and “Always be yourself”.

Ida (Emilia Meier) is new to the Winterstein school and mourns the aftermath of her old life. This changes when he learns that the new school has magical animals that are slowly being handed over to the children by teacher Mrs. Kornfield (Nadja Uhl). Like Ida, pirate fan Benny (Leonard Conrads), who is teased in class for his clumsiness, hopes to have such a beast as a friend soon. And then there’s also Cool Joe (Loris Sikrowski). Despite being popular, he suffers from his constantly quarreling parents. Apart from distributing magical animals, a brazen thief is stirring up the school. Can the kids be able to catch the culprit with the help of an animal?

Ida’s new teacher is called Mrs. Cornfield and she hails from Scotland, but she doesn’t have a Scottish accent, which nobody noticed. She wears a long, colorful coat, short, round glasses and a puffed updo. One might take her for Bellatrix Lestrange’s good sister. No, it doesn’t get any strangers. But educational: Mrs. Kornfield has a special concept for developing class cohesion… – the magical animals that live in her brother Mortimer Morrison’s (Milan Peschel) pet shop until they are distributed to the pupils. goes.

The first rule of Fight Club is….

These are similar to “Fight Club”, as the first-class rule is: “Never, we never talk to others about a magical beast!” Desired Outcome: Building a committed community. This goal is countered by the initially enviable circumstances that initially only two children receive an animal companion, namely those who, in Mrs. Kornfield’s opinion, are most in need of a real friend. So far so good.

Animal magic is now limited to the fact that they can speak in front of the uninvited and transform themselves into stuffed animals, so that what remains secret remains a secret. Turtle Henrietta can also dance, skateboard and chat casually to the voice of Katharina Thalbach. Otherwise we learn that, as it matches the general image of the tortoise, it is ancient and accordingly intelligent. Fuchs Rabbat (spoken by Max von der Groben) is, as would be expected from his style, not only since Goethe’s Reinke, smart and sharp. At least that’s what it’s said over and over again. Another characteristic of Rabbat is his signature phrase “People are really crazy!”, which he recites every time something completely crazy is going on, for example someone is cleaning up. And no, it’s no fun.

The animation is also rather harsh and never really fits into the actual setting, which is why there’s little emotion left in the baby-animal interactions. For the most part human actors do their best. Above all, Emilia Maier and Nadja Uhl (“heat in front of the balcony”) radiate bravely against their flat figures and irrelevant sentences that the script pours into their mouths like dry wood. In order to portray a character like Justus von Dohnanyi (“The Experiment”) as completely colorless and contourless as Sigman, the school’s director, you must first create.

Following a lengthy introduction to the most important students, teachers, and animals, as well as the caretaker (Heiko Pinkowski), an off-the-peg children’s crime plot follows, which, at least for adults, has no real life in store. Doesn’t surprise. The animals somehow help or at least are involved in the resolution of the matter – it doesn’t really matter, because here they are essentially employees, and this is a really big problem. It’s really about the message: friendship, team spirit, who you are. There’s nothing wrong with all of this, but there are already hundreds of children’s movies that bring this morality closer—many of them with more mindfulness, recognition value, and, well, magic.

very little magic

But it’s not only the animals lacking in magic that gives the title to the title. Even heroes in human form, most of them Muggles, don’t come from the magical world of ideas, but from template creation kits: the smart, cheeky girl with the red hair, the stupid nerd, and of course the arrogant blonde. With the miniskirt business gang is allowed Zicke is not missing as a leader. One question that must be asked above of the best-selling children’s book authors in the country: Where are the truly new and unforgettable heroines and heroes who are actually taken seriously with their problems, even when they appear in spectacular scenarios. Are you going ahead?

In any case, they did not come up with Margit Auer’s “School of Magical Animals”. That doesn’t detract from the success, which is totally fine, after all, the series is legitimized by the fact that it apparently whetted countless first-time readers’ appetites for books. Whether you really need films or not is left to the decision of younger audiences. The next film in the book series, which already consists of eleven parts and two spin-offs, has already been shot – “The School of Magical Animals 2” is scheduled to hit German cinemas in early 2022.

Conclusion: Good for kids around 8, but definitely a must-see. On the other hand, adults who like to watch children’s imagination from time to time to cut themselves out of everyday life, will not find anything new or magical here.