Yuck...
Directing his sixth film in the "Wizarding World," David Yates brings us the lifeless garbage that is Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. The sequel to 2016's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The Crimes of Grindelwald continues the story of Newt Scamander and his companions; this time putting them up against Grindelwald himself played by Johnny Depp.
I was not the biggest fan of the first film as I found the new characters to be dull and unlikable aside from Dan Fogler's character Jacob. I went into this sequel impressed by the trailers and with hopes that my issues with the first one would be resolved. To my disappointment, I think this movie is worse than its predecessor and is a wake-up call telling JK Rowling to stick to writing novels and not screenplays.
This movie is BORING. If you genuinely asked me what happened within the first hour and a half of it, my honest response would be nothing. The best way to describe this movie is that its essentially a filler episode from a TV series until the final 15-20 minutes. The majority of the movie is spent following the main characters across Europe on a task that could have been resolved in the first act, with the only sequence worthy of recognition being the one which takes place at Hogwarts. I was excited to see Jude Law's take on a younger Dumbledore and I can say confidently that he delivered. He's not in the movie that much, however, due to his sworn promise never to fight his former friend, and quite possibly lover, Grindelwald. Johnny Depp is serviceable as the dark wizard, but he too does not have nearly as much screen time as I would've expected or liked. The character of Grindelwald is severely underdeveloped as the audience is just expected to hate him cause he's a bad guy. This leads me to my gripe with the entire series so far.
When I heard the announcement of a new series of films taking place before the events of Harry Potter, I was pretty intrigued. The idea of seeing a young Dumbledore and seeing the earlier state of the wizarding world seemed like a concept worthy of the big screen. Now two films in, the new series has failed to capture the magic of the original films and is missing the opportunity to tell an interesting story. I feel as if the story being told here is a 2-3 movie story that is being dragged out into 5 films as a money-grab. It makes sense, but I hate when studios do this with something so treasured as Harry Potter. Granted, nothing that happens in these films will change how much I love the originals, but I'd still like to see them executed properly. Attributing to this lack of magic are the new characters who just don't hold the torch to the likes of the original big 3. Its kind of like the new Star Wars trilogy to a much larger degree. Also, something that I haven't been able to identify is missing from these films. Could it be the absence of John Williams' magical score? Or is this the result of subject fatigue on the part of director David Yates? Whether its one of these or not, something needs to change; however, I'm worried that most of the damage has been done.
Back to the issue at hand, The Crimes of Grindelwald suffers from a dull plot and disinteresting characters, some of whom are underdeveloped. The ending of the film is entertaining, but its defiantly not the satisfying payoff I wanted after suffering through the majority of the film. As for positives, Jude Law shines as Dumbledore and the aura of Hogwarts is still present. The characters of Leta Lestrange and Newt's brother are solid additions, and Dan Fogler brings some laughs once again. The big reveal at the end of the film defiantly caught me by surprise and I'm surprisingly looking forward to the next entry.
Overall, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is a bore-fest with a half-way decent final act. It suffers from the same issues as its predecessor and even manages to add more to the fold. As great as JK Rowling's creative powers are, her two stints as a screenwriter have shown some questionable decisions, and some, maybe purposeful, dragging out of story points. If you're a fan of Harry Potter and want to find out more about the world, I recommend you still see this as it answers some questions you may or may not want answered. That being said, I'll give this series one more chance, as the next film has the opportunity to mend some wounds, but we'll see when its released in 2020.
My Score: D-