Performances are exactly what they need to be here, and the adults play their exaggerated roles neatly. Nadja Uhl is everyone’s ideal Auntie as Miss Cornfield. She’s pretty, stylish, smart, and slightly rebellious. The protecting adults and animals are, again, comforting. Villainous (ish) characters like school director Siegmann (Justus von Dohnányi) are all bark and no bite, and the stakes are never high. Sadness and frustration are temporary. The school is a safe space. You can park your child in front of these films, and they will probably love it, and you can get on with whatever you need to do. If the kids like it, you’re in luck: this is the 2nd film from a series of 10 books, and there will likely be more.
All that said, of course, now the mean old film critic has to wade in and point out a couple of obvious non-ideal elements. First and foremost is the dubbing. The film was made in German, and the dubbing is annoyingly out of sync with the performer’s lips and body language. In almost all cases, it’s better to have a film played in the original language with English subtitles. This, of course, won’t work for children who can’t yet read. I would argue for those who are working on reading skills, however, that it would be excellent practice. As a bonus, it would acclimate kids to the idea of hearing different languages.
“…seamlessly and comfortingly familiar from start to finish..”
The next nitpick is the conspicuous borrowing of ideas from other works. Clearly, the school is meant to look like Hogwarts from the Harry Potter world, and it does. The idea of talking lifetime companion animals acquired at puberty is nicked directly from Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials books, where they are called Daemons. Other influences come from all directions. There’s a smattering of The Sound of Music, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, and an endless parade of stories about what it’s like being the teen outsider clumped with a cohort of socially awkward kids at a new school. That last bit has practically become a genre on its own. Of course, the group of snotty mean girls rounds out the cliche list.
All of this is fine, as the movie isn’t meant to be high art cinema. School of Magical Animals 2 is light fantasy viewing for kids to enjoy and adults to grumble about, and it hits those marks with style and polished panache. Set your expectations accordingly.
"…The school is meant to look like Hogwarts"
