Hey there friends! We are in the peak of movie season (this is when all the great Oscar bait and other highly anticipated films come out). So as I'm sure many of you know I am a major Potterhead (that's a huge fan of the Harry Potter series if you are a muggle or no-maj as they like to call them in this particular series). To say I was excited about this movie is an understatement. I couldn't wait for this movie to come out so I could revisit this new world J.K. Rowling created with all these characters I grew to love. But enough about me you're probably anxious to know about the film so... LET'S GET STARTED!
PLOT:
This film follows the events of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the first of the series. In this film we start out at the American Ministry of Magic where the powerful wizard, Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) is being held. He is there for his crimes from the first film as well as all his crimes all over the rest of the world. The British ministry has come to retrieve Grindelwald to take him to Europe to be punished for his crimes there as well. While in transport to Europe, Grindelwald manages to escape along with some of his followers.
Back in London, Newt (Eddie Redmayne) is desperately trying to get back to America to see his friends, with one specifically in mind. However, he has been put under a travel ban and is not allowed to leave the country which poses a problem as you can imagine. The British Ministry of Magic wants him to join the auror team to help put a stop to Grindelwald but Newt doesn't believe that job suits him, he'd much rather continue to study his beasts.
While this is happening Grindelwald's cause is growing ever stronger and he is gaining more and more followers. Credence (Ezra Miller) who Grindelwald is determined to get to join his cause is also on the run looking for his lost family. Newt along with Queenie (Alison Sudol) and Jacob (Dan Fogler) learn that Grindelwald is in Paris. Someone else who's been on Newt's mind quite a bit is also in Paris, investigating. That's right folks it's Tina (Katherine Waterston), now a newly reappointed auror is in Paris. She's investigating both Grindelwald and the whereabouts of Credence to see if she can help him and turn him away from the darkness.
We are also introduced to new characters including Newt's brother, Theseus (Callum Turner) and his once love, Leta Lestrange (Zoë Kravitz) as well as old characters we hold near and dear to our heart. That's right we get to see young Dumbledore (Jude Law). Together they all try to figure out what Grindelwald's plan is and how to stop him but not everything and everyone is as it seems.
REVIEW:
So as I said before I was pretty darn pumped about this movie. I mean how could I not be? It's Harry Potter, one of my most cherished and beloved series. I was especially excited about this movie because I loved the first one so much and really loved the characters. This movie has been getting a lot of flack lately and while I disagree with some of it there are some aspects of the criticism that I do understand.
One thing in particular that bothered me was the pacing and the editing of the story. This movie starts out with a bang and then from there it doesn't really know where to place its footing. So much happens in this movie it's almost overwhelming. It was often like we were watching four different stories being squeezed into one and trying to connect. Although most of it did towards the end, there were still some plot holes or particular scenes that didn't make sense for the overall story. It's like it wasn't sure what story it wanted to tell. I get it, this is the second movie in a series of five so they're trying to set up as much as possible and there are going to be plot holes because they need some things to explain in further movies but it just seemed like too much in my opinion.
There were also so many new characters introduced and the movie wanted to follow each and every one of them. It was a lot to take in and we haven't fully connected with these new characters yet. Although there was one new character I did enjoy and that was Leta Lestrange. I found her character fascinating and I slightly knew about her from the glimpse we got from the first film so I knew a little bit about her and her connection to Newt. The others though I didn't care too much about because I really just wanted to see our four main characters: Newt, Tina, Queenie, and Jacob. I fell in love with these characters from the first film and I really just wanted to stay with them. That's another slight problem I had with the movie, not enough Tina. She's my favorite character. I love her so much that in the overall Harry Potter characters I rank her right under Hermione and if you know me that's a huge deal. Although we do get to spend quite a bit of time with her I could have used way more.
Although I've mostly been criticizing the movie I don't want you to think I didn't enjoy the film because I felt quite the opposite. I really liked this movie and I plan on seeing it again. In my opinion there is no bad Harry Potter film, sure some are better than others but there's no one film that stands out to me as being downright bad. I thought the story for this film was fascinating, it just could have been toned down a bit and tighter. Although I was hesitant about all the new characters, towards the end of the film I did connect with some of them. There were still some I didn't care too much about but I figure I'll grow to like them in future films.
The performances were all great in this film like in the first. Although Johnny Depp is a sensitive topic for most people, I think he plays a great villain and does a really great job in this film. He plays this cold man but deep down you can see he does have a soul and some feelings even though he conceals it well. He has a quiet, ominous presence about him. I thought Jude Law also did a great job. He had big shoes to feel depending on how you feel about Dumbledore. I really liked his performance because it was reminiscent of Richard Harris' performance (my personal favorite Dumbledore). He wasn't too ostentatious like Michael Gambon could be at times, he played it subdued and reserved but with humor and soul.
Two performances I was very happy with were Eddie Redmayne's as Newt and Katherine Waterston's as Tina (I know, shocker) specifically in their scenes together. This isn't really a spoiler because they've been talking about it nonstop on the press tour but, it's very clear that Newt is in love with Tina. His feelings are reciprocated by her although she's not as quick to show it. I loved their scenes together because their interactions were so awkward and adorable because these are two characters who are clearly in love with each other but don't know how to express it. They have such great chemistry and whenever the two of them are on screen together it instantly captures my attention and I can't turn away from the screen. There's a particular scene I loved between them... I won't tell you what it is because I don't want to ruin it for you but when you see the movie you'll know what I'm talking about.
I didn't talk much about Queenie and Jacob so I'll quickly mention them because this review is getting a bit long-winded. Guys I love Queenie and Jacob and their story is actually pretty interesting and heartbreaking. Both Alison Sudol and Dan Fogler give great performances in both the comedic scenes and the quite frankly, gut-wrenching scenes. Their characters have grown quite a bit from the first film and their journey is really fascinating to watch. I just really love these four core characters and their interactions with one another and I look forward to future films so I can watch more and more of their adventures together.
PARENT'S GUIDE:
This film is rated PG-13. Some scenes could be a bit scary and it can get a little dark but overall this is a fun film with great characters and an interesting story.
OVERALL RATING:
For this film I will give it a...
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald: 6/10
I gave it this rating because although I really enjoyed it and it pains me to give it that score there were aspects of the film I would fix such as the pacing, editing, who the story focused on, etc. I think the goal of the film could have been clearer because it felt muddled, there was too much going on.
CONCLUSION:
Well there ya have it friends, my extremely long review on a beloved franchise! I hope you enjoyed my spiel and I hope this review encourages you to check this one out although I'm sure you don't need much convincing if you're as big a Harry Potter fan as I am. As always thank you so much for visiting this little blog of mine. Please be sure to leave me a comment or suggestion and tell your friends! Until next time!
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