Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald
I haven't read any other reviews of this movie, but I'm sure I agree with what they have to say. Crimes of Grindelwald was a movie that had a lot of great moments and also a lot of nonsensical moments.
Almost exactly what I mentioned in my review I just posted on the first Fantastic Beasts movie, this movie is servicing the plot and story 100% over the characters every time. This is why Harry Potter, and even the first FB worked so well. It was all about the character interactions and introductions and small growth throughout the film. This movie has superb acting, but half of the characters don't need to be there or make senseless decisions.
I can't help but compare this series to the trajectory of the first two Harry Potter films. Both of those films are great in their own right, but they are very much world building and primarily set up, not different than these first two Fantastic Beasts. One major difference is the length of the films though, as both FB movies are just over 2 hours and the first two HP are 2.5 hours. This gave those movies room to breath and pace themselves better, even if they could drag, but I don't really know if more time would have allowed this movie to pick up at all.
There were way too many plot threads that were left dangling at the end to leave me completely satisfied.
I'll do a quick rundown of the characters.
Newt Scamander: Charming and quirky as ever, love his personal journey through the film.
Tina Goldstein: Love her as well, love that her growth carried over from the first film, could have used more of her in the film.
Jacob Kowalski: I adore him, but he was utterly filler and didn't need to be in the film.
Queenie Goldstein: Her motivations make absolutely no sense, didn't need to be in the movie.
Lena Lestrange: I love Zoe Kravitz for some reason, although I don't know if she knows how to smile. I found her character super interesting and her motivations fascinating, Kravitz performance is great and captivating, adding depth and mystery to her character. Especially after hearing so much about her in FB1, it was nice to get the payoff. The relationship she is in though doesn't make much sense and her overall use as a character seemed to fall flat.
Thmdaksmdsdjn Scamander: I never knew what they called him, it started with a 'Th'. I liked his relationship with his brother and his path through the film, but some parts of his character were weird and pointless.
Creedence: His character has completely changed since the first film, which is a real let down. I don't think it is too late to save him but I was disappointed by the direction they took him and the strange focus they put on him. I even think the story they told could have been done better. I really wish he tapped more into the raw emotion that he seemed to finally hit from the last one.
Albus Dumbledore: I really did love Jude Law's portrayal of the classic character, I love how we see him in his prime and going behind the back of the Ministry of Magic. I did wish they more explicitly stated how Dumbledore is gay, the people I saw it with were so confused by that plot thread because they dance around it in a way that just makes it way more complicated than it needs to be.
Grindelwald: Johnny Depp killed it. He stole every scene he was in. His character could have done some more things to show me he truly is evil but we never got those moments. I was expecting him to be an over the top evil dude, but Johnny Depp actually provides the gravitas and handles the character with the gravitas that was needed, and was one of the highlights of the film.
Overall, the visual effects were stunning, but the cinematography left a lot to be desired. Maybe it was where I was sitting in the theater, but I couldn't follow some of the action as well.
I have been pretty negative in this review, but it's because I love the film still and adore the story they are telling. I want to see them take the criticism and improve for the next three films, now that we have the major players all here now. I can't state enough how cool some of the reveals and storylines are but I can't spoil it in a review, and I still love the relationship between Newt and Tina and can't wait to see it evolve in the future. ALL OF THE BEASTS ARE SUPER COOL AND WE NEVER GOT THIS LEVEL OF COOL CREATURES IN HARRY POTTER (although the Hypogriff is still the coolest one #Buckbeak4Life).
Final Score: 5/10