The highly anticipated sequel to the Harry Potter prequel series Fantastic Beasts has finally arrived.
Crimes of Grindelwald follows not long after the events of the first flick with Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) now escaping custody and unleashing havoc upon the Wizarding World. This time he has a following behind him to back up his radical plan for pure-blooded wizards and witches to reign supreme over the non-magical (aka muggles/no maj’s).
There is a message thrown in there somewhere about inequality and neo-nazism which has been present throughout the classic Potter flicks. Its populist message among the masses is reminiscent of modern US politics, but this leaves the villain as a passive, somewhat tame threat compared to his mass murderer successor.
Young Dumbledore (Jude Law) then miraculously shows up in the universe and enlists the help of former student and magizoologist, Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) to help maintain peace within the magical community. Newt is awkwardly endearing as a character, but he’s not the leading material type and so there is confusion among the cast of Tina (Katherine Waterson) Queenie (Alison Sudol) and Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler) as to which of them we’re meant to barrack for.
Credit: Roadshow Films
While it may have the perfect story on paper we are instead left with an overfull blockbuster entry within J.K. Rowling’s expanding Wizarding World franchise. There is a lot thrown into the mix this time around but everything at this point seems a little unclear and confusing leaving audiences with little-to-zero care factor for the characters at play. It doesn’t help that there is a constant tonal shift throughout the flick that is bound to give anyone whiplash.
What it does get right though is the addition of Jude Law as Young Dumbledore, along with Nagini’s (played by Claudia Kim) interesting backstory. We all know her as the menacing pet snake to Harry Potter’s arch-nemesis Voldemort but it’s nice to learn more about her origins and will no doubt be one of the more engaging stories to be fleshed out in future installments.
There’s also a bit of nostalgia present to please fans with Hogwarts placed sparsely throughout the outing. They even use the classic theme tune by John Williams! It will no doubt make any avid fan tingle with glee.
As a whole though, this entry screams filler as it is all merely set-up for more exciting things to come in this five-part trilogy.
Verdict: A clunky but mildly fun follow-up to its predecessor. Fans will either love it or hate it!
Overall Rating: 6/10
About The Author
