Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)

Title: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

Year: 2018

Genre:  Adventure | Family | Fantasy|

Runtime:  134 min

Director:  David Yates

Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Johnny Depp, Kathrine Waterston

 6,9/10

A DECENT, ANTI-CLIMATIC SEQUEL WITH AN

UNDERWHELMING ENDING

Back in 2016, Fantastic Beasts and where to find them, introduced a rather shy and introverted character named Newt Scamander. It also depicts a different aspect of the wizarding world known from Harry Potters. Fantastic Beasts sequel is just the same and probably will with the three upcoming movies reconcile a similar storyline to its predecessor.

Eddie Redmayne often plays character that are emotionally and theoretically intellectual. Scamander is no exception to this decision. Even through he performs him as a why and loyal character with a bond to imaginary creatures like where treat them as his pets. Once more, he doesn’t distinctly showcase emotion for other character and does sometime are hard to read for his actions. Hopefully it’s, easier to be able to read him as a character in the upcoming films.

Dan Fogler is used, like the last time, as a pathetic character like a comic-relief. He has the perspective as the audience. The unknown and muggle-character that gets to experience a different everyday life together with these character. He is the one who are only there to make stupid jokes and make the audience laugh. He was supposedly to not remember the events in New York but he did as it was a happy and joyful time for him even if he randomly joins and befriends three magicians. Also, for the first time he visits Scamander even though he has no idea where he lives. Beside, Harry Potter has the same function as Jacob. It worked with Potter but that one was a protagonist, Jacob isn’t.

Further along, David Yates and J.K Rowling has history prior to this and you can tell because there is no real substance to the plot here. The early movies aka Harry Potter had some solid source material and the screenwriter wasn’t even the source-writer herself. Steve Kloves wrote the first movie which indirectly turned a small child book to global franchise which brings the second series in the same world. In total, Kloves wrote seven of eight movies and provided a clear sense of structure and familiarity that lacks in this series. One thing that makes this film a watchable and pleasant execution is the magic that Yates, as  a director, provides to the screen.

The story, however, contain some subplot and undeterminaly choices by character that collide by the third acts. It has some unwillingly bad subplots that don’t prolong the story as a whole yet indicates a character-development along the way. It fits nicely to the all-over the place and nostalgic easter eggs that is shown right in your face. Nagini, Dumbledore, McGonagall, The mirror of Erised, Lestrange, Thestrals, boggarts and more. There is also some unwanted and very long flashback scenes about Lestrange past. Nicolas Flamel, that played a crucial part in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, rescue Newt and his speechless friends.

Even more curious is that Tina, the girl Newt spend some time with in New York, seems to have no interest in the animal-loving wizard whatsoever but he depicts her as a lover and some time as a girlfriend. The even weird thought is that he has deep feeling for Lestrange as well. Jacob and Queenie gets engaged even though the magical laws forbids it.

Yates started on his quest for knowledge about the wizardry world of Harry Potter with the fifth movie which premiered 2007. After four movies in the first saga and one movie prior to this series, most of the visual effect is solid and clear, even to the naked eye. It’s 3D animated function works great as it interact nearly perfectly to cast. Sometime you can see how the animated works and figure out how the did it in post-production with green screen.

Although, as the visual effects is stunning and suitable for cinema with the big screen and real majestic sound, the absorbing magic from early films is barely there. Kloves provided that mostly through the whole series. Even if Rowling is a master at telling, it would hurt that someone else was selected to tell her tales for the screen. She’s a novelist. Not a screenwriter. Kloves acted as a executive producer for this movie but why wasn’t he the screenwriter. Maybe it was a choice of free will and that is why this series will most likely not reach the success the Harry Potter Saga used to do for over ten year. Ten movies in to a series that will concluded at thirteen movies makes and you might think through these movies it isn’t what it used to be. The experienced magic is gone, the cast is good but not briljant and the lack of interesting and interesting storyline reeks long way.

Somehow, this series feels like a way to make thing clear. Things that didn’t explained thorough enough in the first place or show that Rowling is roaring and desperate for money because even after eleven and seven years respective, she has really hard time to let this series go. Ultimately, she hasn’t something else to do and some of the fans for the first series is happy. 

It has some cool, exciting moments but ends up in a desperate attempt to try something new in an already established franchise. More so, the saga continues 2020 with the third movie. In this pace, if this series contiues in this pace, it will end up as the Star wars-prequel… Think about that!