Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)

4/10

Starring

Eddie Redmayne

Katherine Waterston

Dan Fogler

Directed by David Yates

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is full of noise, plot twists, and suspense, but despite all that, the film is boring and less interesting than even the weakest movie in the Harry Potter or Fantastic Beasts franchise.

At one point, I couldn’t understand why so much was happening in the movie, yet so little of it led to any excitement. It felt like every turn revealed something important, only for that thing to connect to another reveal much later. This approach can be very annoying and, frankly, boring. I don’t get how this movie was praised by critics because, for me, it was a struggle to sit through its over-two-hour runtime.

The odd thing is, J.K. Rowling wrote the screenplay, and it’s clear she’s plotting something big. This might work well in a two-part book where the first part is in your hands and the second is waiting on the shelf. But in this movie, the way things unfolded left me bored with the franchise. It’s taking too long to get anywhere, and it’s taking even longer for things to start adding up.

The plot picks up three months after the first movie ends, with Newt trying to get his international travel rights reinstated. His rights were revoked because of what happened in New York during the first film.

Newt is given a condition to get his travel pass back: he must help the Ministry of Magic find Credence Barebone, the man believed to be the only living pure-blood wizard. Grindelwald wants Credence as a pawn to kill Albus Dumbledore.

After refusing to take sides or help the Ministry, Newt is dismissed. Later, Dumbledore contacts him and convinces him to search for Credence. Newt, along with his friend and human companion Jacob, sets out on the mission.

This search takes us through some dark backstories for many characters. We learn about Dumbledore and Grindelwald’s past relationship, why Newt is so different from others, and more about Credence’s origins.
Along the way, we lose some characters, see Grindelwald recruiting wizards to his cause, and get a glimpse of the larger conflict brewing.

For me, the movie was too deep for its own good. It introduced so many characters who appeared briefly and then vanished, leaving too many loose ends. You’re left wishing they’d start tying things together sooner rather than later. A third movie is set to release in 2020, so we’ll see if it can salvage the mess.