Review of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) by Chuck C — 23 Nov 2018

I was so disappointed in the first one, but the characters - including the beasts - were likable and I particularly liked the Queenie/Jacob story. In hindsight, that one was a masterpiece compared to this one. There was nothing in this movie to make me care about any of the characters, I thought it had less depth than a TV movie and I absolutely hated the Queenie/Jacob plotline. When it ended, all I could think of was, what in the hell was the point of all that?

Also, just like the last one, I saw it in 3D and it was way too dark. I put the glasses down occasionally, to find that it was noticeably lighter, but still so much darker than it needed to be throughout too much of the movie. I couldn't even figure out what was going on in the early sequences. I don't know who is making the lighting decisions, but they are a big failure in both movies.

I'm giving this one star, instead of half a star, because I do still like the actors/characters. I just don't like what they were made to do in this film. I still like them enough that I might even go back to see the next installment, even though I feel that - so far - this series has gone from bad to worse. Really worse. I think this is one of the worst movies I've ever seen - lots of potential, but a big flop. Ugh. But I'm still a huge Potterhead, so I'm kinda invested in its wizarding universe. We're probably the ones propping this series up. I can't imagine who would want to put up with this otherwise.