Review of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) by Gary S — 17 Nov 2018

As someone who didn't enjoy the first movie very much, this movie meandered through most of its runtime with just enough connective tissue to the Harry Potter movies to keep me interested. The second act could have done with being trimmed down by about twenty minutes, but the third is brave enough to hold a mirror up, albeit haphazardly, to the current global political climate. It may, however, be the fate of this franchise to take one step forward and two steps back during each film. I don't doubt Rowling's ability to guide a wider story, but her pacing and structuring of a screenplay leave a lot to be desired.

This movie suffers from trying to make broad steps in universe at the expense of character development, depth and subsequently its performances, but it packs in just enough fan service to help wizarding fans forgive its shortcomings.