Review of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) by Gregory M — 16 Nov 2018

I have only admiration for Jo and for her creations. The "Fantastic Beasts" storyline came out of nowhere because the studio saw potential in spin-offs from the Wizarding World. But Jo didn't want to simply serve the studio, she wanted to serve her fans.

What she did was set the path for a different story, a more Potter-centered story, in the disguise of a new franchise. And she remains loyal to her more passionate and oldest fans. "The Crimes of Grindelwald" sure is a sequel to the first "Fantastic Beasts" movie as it continues almost right where we left the story in the first part.

But it does not only serve as a sequel as it is clearly set to be the introduction to the greatest and most important chapters that will follow in the next movies of the franchise. As an introduction the pacing somewhat suffers and there are scenes that feel out of order, but to the hardcore fan no scene is really unimportant.

A casual viewer may overlook certain details and mentions, and even the biggest revelation may not have the desirable effect on them and that's when I realised how hard Jo's work was. She is here to serve the fandom, everyone is invited, they will admire the great visuals and amazing action scenes, but at the end of the day the biggest winner here is the Potterhead.

The night I was watching this I was the only hardcore Potterhead in the cinema, and believe me, the impact the movie had on me, no one could feel that. "The Crimes of Grindelwald" is a nod to the past, serves as an introduction to the bigger events that will follow and is setting the themes for the next movies.

I get why people hate it, why they don't like it and why it doesn't work for them. But for me, a Potterhead through and through, it's easy to overlook some of the misplaced parts, because most of the plot and the Potter-related stuff was mind-blowing.

I simply can't wait for the rest!