Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

I didn't expect that. After the previous film, which I really liked, came the second installment from the very same creators... And it's so much worse. Boredom, familiar characters who suddenly didn't matter to me, and new characters who were quite similar, their shallow dialogues, action scenes without many ideas and the attractions named Johnny Depp and Jude Law are barely used. While the previous film revealed new chapters of the Harry Potter world and enlarged it pleasantly, this one just strangely tangles it. Two and a half. (11/23/2018)

The first film proved that audiences are still quite curious about this cinematic world and will gladly pay to return to it. So what do we do in the second one? What makes sense. We're gonna add in everything that we think people might like, to keep it wringing it out for a few years. This approach is fine, it's just what Hollywood does with big movies, but unfortunately the second Fantastic Beasts shows that it's not always for the best. For example, getting a film directed by the biggest routine artist Hollywood has at its disposal, or wanting to milk the studio so badly that it sets up a lot of plots, subplots, characters, heroes and creatures that there's no time at all for a plot that makes even rudimentary sense. The result is a bunch of mediocre, albeit good-looking action, a lot of twists and turns that would put the creators of Wild Angel to shame, and a cauldron of book and movie references that fans are likely to enjoy. That last thing makes The Crimes of Grindelwald rather good, and if you head to the cinema expecting someone to simply shove things you probably like and probably want to see under your nose, you'll enjoy it. As an attempt to kickstart a grand fantasy franchise, however, it brutally fails in practically every way. Boring movie, and perhaps even a little embarrassing at times. (11/15/2018)

Every sequel between the first and potentially last installment of Fantastic Beasts (not only) has the unfortunate function of being a connector between the adventures – something that must be taken into account when watching the film. After two years, we return to a magical world that is slowly beginning to split into two camps, which includes close friends. The film sees the return of many old familiar characters and animals (Niffler is the Scrat of feature films) and the addition of others we've met many times in the Harry Potter saga (Dumbledore, Flamel, Nagini), so we come a little closer to the films we basically grew up on. Personally, I'd cut back on the relationship peripeties, they aren’t entirely necessary (Newt + Tina, Leta + Theseus, Queenie + Jacob) and add where it has more potential (Dumbledore + Grindelwald), which hopefully we'll see in future installments. I liked the unraveling of the story around Leta and Credence, though in the latter case it was a bit overdone by the end, but we'll be see how it develops further. It should be noted, however, that they have failed to significantly tap into the potential that this series abounds with, which in this case is a shame. In the end, this is a sequel that I had fun with in the cinema, and I was treated to some impressively shot scenes, but all the time I had in mind the fact that it could have been done in a different way than as a sequence of a few plot twists and new questions, which, although it set the stage for the next film, made the whole thing feel a bit sketchy – a thankless function of the middle films in a series, but one that can be avoided. P.S. I wonder how it is that IMDb lists McGonagall, who should be -8 years old at the time, among the characters? (11/15/2018)

As a sworn fan of the Harry Potter’s universe who can recite the names of most of the characters, spells and places at the drop of a hat, I automatically keep my distance with the related stuff by Rowling – with the exception of “The Cursed Child” – and the film adaptations of “Fantastic Beasts” illustrate why. I accepted the first one for the way it lays down the potentially interesting characters and conflicts and for the visually enriching expansion of the fictional world, and I honestly hate the second one for the very same reasons. It’s almost incredible how they manage to throw so many good guys with intertwined relationships into one world that is so powerfully dark, without having a proper clash in the climax. During the course of the film you’ll never guess where the story is heading, because it’s not really heading anywhere, it only delays stupidly the encounter of all the characters so there’ll be enough time for beasts, romance and flashbacks for morons. I still believe that the next sequel will explain all the apparently redundant motifs, but that doesn’t change the fact that the second Fantastic Beasts is awfully boring, that recycles stuff we’ve already seen and that the escalation is in fact stagnation with a multiplication potion. The first part of Deathly Hallows was great in comparison, it had several highlights and a clear narrative direction; here, the only things that are fine are Hogwarts, the young Dumbledore and one intimate scene with Newt and Tina that shows true emotions. Otherwise, if you erase if from your memory, you won’t be missing anything. (11/14/2018)

Another unimaginative film in which the duel between young Dumbledore and Grindelwald is in the cards, but it really is only in the cards - and it will probably take several more films before it actually happens. Rowling and a few others are unsuccessfully trying to fill sparse and artificially stretched story, based more or less only on the search for a wizard around Paris (surprisingly not Grindelwald), with sub-plots with the completely banal issues of a large number of characters, some of whom are presented just to be in the film, but they do not say or do anything significant at any point (and they probably won’t do anything meaningful until future sequels). In the background there seems to be the onset of an epic story arc about the fateful clash of the two greatest wizards of their time, but the film as such does not tell a great story and only rides on the fringe lukewarm romantic storylines of its heroes, Potter nostalgia and digital animals, which are only there for decoration. Visually, the film is beautiful and full of imaginative and fun-filled suggestions, which make it just an amusement park of colorful attractions and unfulfilled promises. (11/14/2018)