Rapid Fire (Film) Review - Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.

The highly anticipated film Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald has been released and fans couldn't be more split on how to view this film. There are those that walked out of the theater loving it and those that walked out ready to regard the entire Fantastic Beasts franchise as non-canon because of how bad they thought it was. I've spent the time since the film's release processing my own thoughts. Unfortunately, as a huge Harry Potter fan, I am burdened with knowledge and that makes me look at the "wizarding world" films on a deeper level. With that in mind, let's dive in and take a look at the good, the bad, and the awful.

**Spoilers Ahead**

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is an enjoyable film in the sense that it was fun to dive back into the wizarding world and explore new areas and creatures. However, just because it is enjoyable does not mean that it is a good film. In fact, even though I enjoyed it, when you break the film down you realize that it's actually pretty bad. There are many more negatives associated with it than there are positives. If nothing else, this film shows you that the Fantastic Beasts and Harry Potter franchises are very different in terms of characters and themes and not for the better.

First let's look at some of the good that the film offered fans. Across the board, the acting in the film is well done. Certain characters aren't given much to work with but what they did with what they had was enjoyable. Jude Law does a solid job as a young Albus Dumbledore and it is a shame that we don't get to see more from him in this film. Fans were introduced to a few new characters and there was a handful of new beasts to be in awe over. To name a few beasts, there was the kelpie, matagot, Zouwu, kappa, and the chupacabra. There weren't as many new beasts as I would have liked but the ones that I saw were really cool. Especially the matagot (guard cats) used by the French Ministry. There was also a handful of new spells featured that kept things feeling fresh. Then there was the glorious return to Hogwarts. I admit that those scenes made me smile. Hearing "Hedwig's Theme" and seeing Hogwarts again made it feel like returning home. Yet, because the film is set in 1927 and there are some noticeable changes to Hogwarts, this return home still had a fresh feeling to it. I enjoyed seeing the old school robes, the Gryffindor quidditch team flying by ... it was all great. One pleasant surprise was the refreshing performance of Johnny Depp as Gillert Grindelwald. It wasn't his best performance but fans were not given a rehash of his "socially awkward character" that is recycled in so many of his films. I like that he gave us something different. Lastly, a particular detail that I enjoyed was seeing the owls flying mail around the Ministry of Magic and the "mess" that they left behind. This was a nice touch that was a fun callback to the Harry Potter franchise.

Sitting through the film however, one cannot overlook so many mistakes made by the film that either contradict it's own franchise or the Harry Potter franchise. One thing I will say however, is that I am willing to let it slide that this film uses new themes in place of the themes we were so used to in Harry Potter. This is a new franchise set in a new time with new characters. It is natural that we get new themes as well. With that said, there are other things that cannot go by as easily. For starters, it is well known that Albus Dumbledore taught Transfiguration at Hogwarts but in this film he is seen teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. Hopefully it is fixed and explained in the next film that after Dumbledore's banning of teaching DADA, Dumbledore then goes on to teach Transfiguration. Next, there is the useless fan service of having "McGonagall" appear in the film. Fans are led to believe that this is Minerva McGonagall teaching at Hogwarts. However, thanks to Pottermore, we know that Minerva is not born until October 4, 1935 and did not have any relatives that taught at Hogwarts. (An article that conveniently seems to have been taken down from Pottermore.) So McGonagall should be -8 years old in this film and her teaching in it is nothing more than quick fan service that frankly wasn't needed and served no purpose other than to have a quick, "Hey! I know that name!" moment from fans.

There are also things in the film that ultimately just make no sense at all and just leave you with questions. How exactly is Credence alive? Why does Jacob have his memory back so easily? (The film explanation is weak.) Why do we hear almost nothing about Newt's book? Shouldn't Queenie be able to read Grindelwald's mind to see his true intentions? Why would Dumbledore keep his blood pact a secret, even from those helping him? How does everyone seem to know about Dumbledore and Grindelwald's childhood relationship? Did the Lestrange family line just inexplicably end with Leta even though it is supposed to continue on?

The next fault in the film are many of the characters themselves. There were several characters who seemed useless in the film. They are present but add nothing to the story. Unfortunately, Nagini's inclusion in the story was pointless. Does anyone besides Credence even know her name? Then there is Leta Lestrange who seemed to be useless as well. Her love for the Scamander brothers is left hanging as she dies without any true meaning for the story. She had potential but it ultimately does not come through. She seemed to be a simple vessel of plot information and never develops the way she should have. Tina Goldstein unfortunately reverted back to her old self being stern and unlovable like she was at the beginning of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them. This begs the question of why have her progress so far in the first film if it's going to be negated here? The same could be said for her sister Queenie Goldstein. Queenie almost has a great story arc but in the end fans are only given the cliff notes version of it which makes her character seem shallow and off character from what we saw in the first film. Her love for Jacob and falling to the will of Grindelwald is very interesting but falls just short of being any good. She joined Grindelwald so that she could love Jacob even though he is begging her to stay by his side. Was there something deeper in their story that got cut? The characters in these stories seem to be rather two dimensional compared to the incredibly deep characters fans grew to love in the Harry Potter franchise.

Lastly, let's take a moment to look at the newest Dumbledore to the Harry Potter "canon". The shocking ending twist revealed to fans that Credence is actually Aurelius Dumbledore, Albus and Aberforth's brother. Why would nobody mention another Dumbledore in the Harry Potter franchise? Also, wouldn't Reeta Skeeter have found this out while writing her book on Albus Dumbledore? Wouldn't Elphias Doge or Bathilda Bagshot have known about another family member? Is it possible that Grindelwald was simply lying to Credence? Was he manipulating him telling him what he wanted to hear in order to keep him on his side? We'll have to wait and see how this plays out in the next films but as it sits right now it is not pleasant at all.

At it's core this is a film that looks to undermine its own legacy put forward by the Harry Potter franchise and the first Fantastic Beasts film. It's sad that Fantastic Beasts seems to no longer be interested in the details of it's story and the world in which it inhabits. Fans are left with the burning question of whether or not the Fantastic Beasts canon and Harry Potter canon can smoothly transition into each other or if more unfortunate continuity errors will occur completely breaking the wizarding world continuity as we know it.

In the end, I recommend giving the film a chance and seeing what you think of it yourself. Casual fans will most likely really enjoy the film and the few new beasts but bigger Harry Potter fans will most likely notice the errors and may be upset by them. Ultimately, there are too many errors in the film to consider it "good" but as noted, there are small moments that are fun to see and will make you smile. So go forth and travel back to the wizarding world but remember ... constant vigilance!


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