Review: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

“The Harry Potter universe continues to grow, but like a middle aged man who over eats. It’s mostly around the mid-section”

The Potter-verse has grown to 10 films now. Not too many film series have reached 10 before, and even fewer have reached the consistent heights at the box office than the Potter films. Of course, this film, and its predecessor, aren’t really Harry Potter films. They’re films about small referenced events and things from within the Harry Potter books.

The previous film didn’t really grab me, and this film is even less engaging. The problem here is that this film is the second in a 5 part series, and because of that, it spends much of its time setting up future events. There are many characters coming and going, and none of them are really a focus point for the audience. I also felt that the problem that the series as a whole is having, is that it feels in many ways like a re-tread of previous Potter plot lines, most notably, the Grindelwald story feels very much like Voldemorts, minus a certain boy who lived. As we know the eventual outcome of Grindelwald’s story, it doesn’t make for exciting viewing.

The Harry Potter films also focused on teenage characters within a school environment, which seemed to work well for this universe. However, these films follow adults around, and as a result, there isn’t the same level of fun for the audience, primarily due to the lack of discovery along the way. Instead of learning things as we go and expanding on the world we’re watching, this film feels as if we’re just going through the motions and watching people do everyday things within the wizarding world.

Johnny Depp plays the villain of the film and does an adequate job. But Grindelwald is mostly confined to big monologues about the injustice of the world towards wizards and how he believes wizards should rule the world.

Eddie Redmayne’s Newt is less important to the story this time and whilst his character decides to break his neutrality to issues of people, he has little to do with anything that goes on.

Jude Law pops up as a young enthusiastic Dumbledore and does a good enough job for us to look forward to seeing him do more in the coming movies as he is currently mostly confined to Hogwarts.

Don't worry Ezra, at least Warner Bros aren't reshooting this entire movie and ruining it

Overall, the film is a very pedestrian affair that drags on for little outcome overall. Universally, it seems the film has been poorly received by most, however, box office wise it appears to be doing okay, so the third film will most likely go ahead. Hopefully, there’s a bit more fantastic in the film to live up to the name.

The five bearded questions:

1. Was it worth a cinema trip? No

2. Would I See It Again at the Cinema? No.

3. Would I buy it on Blu-ray: (only films I really love get bought these days) No 4. Do I Recommend people see it? No

5. Any cheese/ Disney style bullshit?: (such as jokes wedged in at serious moments, because fun!). If anything, it lacks a light touch that would have help break up the dull dialogue.