A feeling of magic must be in the air because it’s time to return to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter with the Fantastic Beasts’ second installment in the franchise: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. It continues the adventures of Newt Scamander as he must decide to join the fight against the dark wizard Grindelwald or stand on the sidelines and watch as the world is torn apart. It’s another great movie in the Potter series of films, giving us great performances, scares, action and more fantastic settings than one can imagine.
We pick up Newt a year later from the events from the last film, living in London and trying to stay under the radar of the Ministry of Magic, as they would like Newt to work for them. But Newt is already working for Professor Albus Dumbledore in secret, and has been since the last film. Then there’s an unexpected appearance of his American friends, Queenie Goldstein and Jacob Kowalski who have followed Tina (Queenie’s Sister), to Europe. Tina is searching for Credence in Paris, thus everyone heads to Paris to save Credence before he’s killed by all the ministry of magics in Europe, or falls into the hands of Grindelwald who is setting up shop in Paris to begin his reign of terror on the magic and muggle world alike.
Once in Paris, Newt and Jacob search for Tina, and Queenie gets lost and finds herself with Grindelwald who makes a strong case for her to join his army. Once the trio are reunited, Tina, Newt and Jacob (with the help of Leta Lestrange) they set off to save Creedence and stop Grindelwald. But his army is too big. A massive battle ensues: lines are crossed, allegiances are tested, faith in friendships are broken, and Grindelwald makes too strong of a case for war. We lose characters during the battle, a battle where the forces of good have lost the first round and Newt finally takes a side for the upcoming war, joining Dumbledore and preparing for what’s to come.
This is no longer the kid friendly tales that we’re used to in Harry Potter. The Potter franchise has grown up. Crimes of Grindelward is very much a part two in a series that will have five parts to it. This is one more chapter in a long story that writer J.K. Rowling is telling. The movie is darker than any other that has come before and with good reason: it’s a dark world. Grindelward preaches abolishing laws that force wizards to stay hidden from muggles, and utilizes future images of World War II to call for worldwide wizard supremacy and domination. He sees a future of horror and wants to stop the muggles before they destroy the world. What he’s selling is buyable, of course it comes with the catch of being ruled by him.
The movie isn’t without its negatives though. The snake is definitely eating its own tale at this point. It happens in large franchises such as this: when you’ve made so many movies and you go back to retell stories you thought you knew, things change. Think Star Wars and the prequels. The little things that were changed have larger impacts than writers or filmmakers can foresee. Same can be said here. Rowling has changed some of her past characters and in doing so makes some sloppy plot points occasionally. Nothing that hurts the movie in any way, but the Internet just can’t seem to handle the small changes to these movies. Unlike previous Potter films, here we’re dealing with all adults and adult themes such as war. The movie calls for a darker tone and some people are unprepared for that.
The whole cast from the first movie returns, giving us more depth to each of their characters. Eddie Redmayne as Newt is great. He seems to have settled into this role, as has Jacob, played by Dan Fogler. Both have a good comic timing together and great chemistry. Alison Sudol as Queenie has the most character growth out of everyone in the film and she knocks out of the park. At one point she has one line that is delivered so well it send chills up and down your spine. It’s hard to compliment, Katherine Waterson as Tina, she really only comes into the movie late in the second act and is pretty much the same from the first movie. She’s a part of the story but this wasn’t her movie to shine, I’m assuming there’s more to come with her in later installments.
Amazing additions to the cast are Zoe Kravitz as Leta LesStrange and Callum Turner as Newt’s brother Theseus Scamander. Bother are great in their small roles, especially Zoe, she is a delight to watch. Returning to his role as Creedence is Ezra Miller, who gets more of a meatier role here as we are still trying to find out who and what he is. Miller is really interesting to watch in this film. He’s making a lot of acting choices and most are very subtle. He’s a better actor than he’s been given credit for.
Jude Law as young Dumbledore or as the internet has been calling him “Huckeldore”. He is fantastic as Dumbledore. He’s charismatic, funny, wise and full of all the mystery we’ve come to expect from Dumbledore. Law is a welcome addition to these films, as is his counterpart in Johnny Depp as Grindlewald. When Depp likes his role, you get to see him really act and it makes you remember why he is who he is. He really is a great actor, when he’s not phoning it in (Pirates 5). Here he is a force to be reckoned with, but in the most subtle way. He plays Grindelwald so smoothly and with the hint of evil just under the surface. His performance is wonderful to watch.
The beasts in the movie are just as wonderful and beautiful as the first film. Rowling has such a wonderful imagination about the creatures that inhabit her universe and stories, and this is just another great example. And having director David Yates come back to to help her vision become a reality is a nice touch. Yates has directed most of the Potter films and now these first two Beasts films. They clearly have a great working relationship which can be seen in the movie.
Even though this movie isn’t perfect and is definitely a stepping stone film to get you to the other ones, it’s not as bad as the Internet will tell you, but it is as dark as you’ve heard. As said, this is no longer a kids’ franchise. There are scares and dark elements that reflect these characters’ lives in a way we’ve never seen before in a Potter film. And I for one, loved it. So much praise for yet another exciting Potter universe adventure.
