Review of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) by Gordon B — 22 Nov 2018

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is a compelling but flawed chapter in the Harry Potter world. I feel like critics are too harsh on this film and the main thing critics are upset and too upset about was the huge twists and reveals the film made and felt that it was just fan-service to get people wanting to go to the movie, I would disagree as those shocking reveals made me want to see what the next film will do with the series story, and that they were very interesting turns the film took.

Anyway now the negatives of Fantastic Beasts 2: I thing the movie tried to do too much. There were too many characters and side plots that made the film very hard to follow. I would say only a handful of the characters got decent development in the film (the Lestranges, Grindelwald) and others were just popping in and out.

Newt I felt was sidelined in his own film, I wish he was in it more and that was disappointing. Another issue I had was it felt like an incomplete story. JK Rowling probably tried to fit as much stuff as she could and I pretty sure she felt the story was crammed but it didnï¿ 1/2(TM)t have a full conclusion, she could use help from an experienced screenwriter to guide her in scriptwriting.

Thats what I as a viewer felt as well. Along with the crammed story the pacing was very inconsistent. It was very fast paced at some point (which I think the film shouldï¿ 1/2(TM)ve been paced) then the movie would get slower.

It was pretty distracting. Although the film does feel overly stuffed, and it has a lot of issues there were many positives as well. Grindelwald was a interesting and intimidating villain, although I was disappointed in Johnny Depp being casted, I feel he did a great job in bringing Grindelwald to life.

Another actor who did exceptionally well was Jude Law as Dumbledore, I was very convinced that he was a younger Dumbledore and every time he was on screen he was scene stealing. His backstory with Grindelwald was very well done and explained thoroughly which I am surprised Rowling and Yates were able to because this movie is so bloated with information.

Another part of the film I really enjoyed was the dark tone the film mostly had, it made Grindelwald more believable and threatening. Especially when Grindelwald showed the future of human war that was very well done and symbolic of what he represents.

Many will disagree with me but the twists and fan-service I really enjoyed, although they didnï¿ 1/2(TM)t add much to the story (ex: Nagini ) it was still enjoyable and nice to see on screen. Jacob and Queenieï¿ 1/2(TM)s relationship was further developed in a way I would not have expected, but is was well executed by the actors and believable.

On a filmmaking standpoint the cinematography was nice, except in the beginning the close ups of Leta and Theseus talking to Newt in his POV I found a little distracting. The costume and production design was beautiful.

The CGI was as stunning as the first film. Overall, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is an enjoyable chapter in the franchise, but I think it had many missed opportunities that couldï¿ 1/2(TM)ve made the film as a whole great and critically acclaimed.

7.8/10.