Cirque Arcanus was a show that we tried to check out four times during our preview week at Epic Universe and every single time we had to leave after technical issue after technical issue plagued the show but when we finally got around to it, we felt it really wasn’t worth the wait.
Cirque Arcanus brings to live the travelling circus from Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and the queue-line for the show is actually really cool as you enter via a small tent (or what gives the illusion of being small) before it opens out in a really large indoor space.
After a rather strange pre-show introducing the show which does have a rather cool illusion with a suitcase we enter the show and a few acts take the stage.
These acts are your stereotypical circus acts and nothing really will stand out to guests at this point if you’ve frequented a circus before.
The show begins after this and this preservation of magical creatures storyline consists of a few impressive illusions before after the show finishes (around 20 minutes in length) it just feels a bit lacklustre compared to The Untrainable Dragon.
There’s certainly a spectacle and hints of potential and show-stopping elements but it dies way before it has chance to spread its wings.
For a magical-themed show I was expecting more wizarding world inspired acts to begin with and the Fantastic Creatures element of the show was very flat, there was no real emotional depth to the story and after all of the technical hiccups I was pretty fed up of the show by the 5th viewing but on this occasion nothing went wrong, we didn’t get evacuated and I was still disappointed.
Ministry of Magic is already a weak area of Epic Universe, the Battle at the Ministry ride is severely underwhelming after all of the initial hype and the show just further adds to that disappointment.
What I did really enjoy was the illusion of the tent as it magically opens into a 550 seater theatre, this illusion was very clever and this felt more magical than absolutely anything I saw on stage.
So many reviews have said the special effects are the first of their kind anywhere in the world, they are not. I’ve seen these effects are many other stage shows around the world, nothing is unique or special I’m sorry to say.
It’s a once and done show, it’s unforgettable and further adds more proof that this brand new Fantastic Beasts land is an epic fail for me in every department.
