I'm going to get two things out of the way quick so everyone can get their yelling at me out of the way before reading the full review. One: this isn't a very good movie. Two: J.K. Rowling isn't a good screenwriter. Now anyone that can handle reading those two things can continue reading to see my full thoughts because there is a lot to love a lot to not love and a lot to discuss.
In this film we see the capturing of Grindlewald not take, as he escapes from the wizard cops in the opening scene. We then follow as he and the main characters from the first film try to find Creedence, the troubled man that turns into a dark cloud thing that destroys stuff. Throw in a couple subplots and Grindlewald recruiting wizards to overthrow the humans and you have this movie. If that sounds a bit confusing, don't worry the first half of the film is easy to follow, it's just the later portion that turns into a full mess.
One of the things I can for sure say is good in this film are the characters. I'm not really a fan of Eddie Redmayne, but he has so much charm in his role as Newt Scamander that it's hard not to identify with him. I'd say his character is one of the closest things in these films to the magic of Harry Potter. The way he interacts with animals and other people echoes the franchise's origins quite well. Katherine Waterston is also back as Tina. Her character takes some time to get fully involved in the film's action, which sucks because I thought she was one of the best characters in the first film and she still is here. The awkward relationship between her and Newt is really enjoyable, and again echoes the tone of the original Harry Potter films. Some other characters rejoining the cast are Dan Fogler as Jacob, and Alison Sudol as Queenie. These two were really enjoyable in the first film and are no different here. My only issue is that I'm not huge on how their characters were used. Also back is the man whose arrival made me want to walk out of the first film, Johnny Depp as Grindlewald. I've gotta say, I didn't mind him here. His unique look suits the character well, and he felt somewhat menacing, and different from the same character he keeps playing. Ezra Miller also rejoins the cast as Creedence. I like some things they did with his character this time but there are also some things that didn't work for me, but nonetheless Miller takes what he's given and delivers a quite good performance as the conflicted and tormented Creedence. The film has many new additions that I didn't find had enough time for me to have much opinion on them, but the most notable newcomer is Jude Law as Dumbledore. I knew this would be the case going in, but Jude Law is by far the best part of this movie. His performance here feels like when an esteemed older actor stars alongside newcomers, and his pedigree makes the character very strong. Law is only 45, but has the command onscreen of some of the greats. This role allows him to exude his charm and charisma, but also his ability to steal every scene he is in. He doesn't have a ton of screen time which is a shame, but if his role is bigger in the next film that could be enough to make it great. He isn't playing a young Richard Harris or Michael Gambon here, he is playing a young Dumbledore and making the character his own and it is great to watch.
In terms of technical elements I'll start off with things I liked. The visuals are great. The CGI is improved from the first film and the production design is as well, which is saying something because the first film won best production design. The camerawork is quite good for the most part, capturing all the film's beauty in a great way. I also really enjoyed some parts of the score. It isn't as good as the original Harry Potter scores but is still quite good. Now to the issues. First of all, the opening scene sucks. It has a lot of potential but becomes an action sequence that is too dark, fast paced, and choppily cut to follow at all. Not a strong way to start a film. The editing as a whole is kind of bad, jumping from weakly related scenes with pretty much no transition. But that is nothing compared to how bad this script is. I think David Yates does the best he can directing here, because J.K. Rowling is not a good screenwriter. In terms of a worldbuilder and a novelist, I think Rowling is great, but her writing was weak in the first Fantastic Beasts and is far worse here. As I said earlier, the first half of the film isn't too hard to follow. There are some things that if you hadn't recently watched the first film you might need time to catch up on, but other than that it's okay. Then all of the sudden Rowling decides to tie together numerous loose ends that hadn't even been brought up yet at once, tying together underexplained plot points, underdeveloped plot points, and plot points that hadn't even been introduced. We are all of the sudden expected to just know everything about every character, including some that had only been introduced an hour or less prior. This all makes for a confusing mess of a narrative leading into the final act, and that ruins the tone going into the climax. Not only is the tone weakened there, but the climax itself is weak. It seems at first like a great and exciting ending, but is rushed and in the end seems more like connective tissue for the next film. Characters make big emotional choices, but they aren't yet developed enough for those choices to really mean anything. With an entire novel to flesh things out this could have worked, but in the confines of a two hour movie Rowling is unable to give details the attention and relevance they need.
Despite its many flaws can kinda say I liked this movie. I can't give it a positive score, and I really wish I loved it, but it's just way too messy and that's mostly thanks to Rowling. I hope she can either be accompanied by a more experienced writer for the next film, or pass on writing duties entirely, because her screenwriting is tainting the franchise she created.
Rating:2.7/5
Written by Matt McKenzie
In this film we see the capturing of Grindlewald not take, as he escapes from the wizard cops in the opening scene. We then follow as he and the main characters from the first film try to find Creedence, the troubled man that turns into a dark cloud thing that destroys stuff. Throw in a couple subplots and Grindlewald recruiting wizards to overthrow the humans and you have this movie. If that sounds a bit confusing, don't worry the first half of the film is easy to follow, it's just the later portion that turns into a full mess.
One of the things I can for sure say is good in this film are the characters. I'm not really a fan of Eddie Redmayne, but he has so much charm in his role as Newt Scamander that it's hard not to identify with him. I'd say his character is one of the closest things in these films to the magic of Harry Potter. The way he interacts with animals and other people echoes the franchise's origins quite well. Katherine Waterston is also back as Tina. Her character takes some time to get fully involved in the film's action, which sucks because I thought she was one of the best characters in the first film and she still is here. The awkward relationship between her and Newt is really enjoyable, and again echoes the tone of the original Harry Potter films. Some other characters rejoining the cast are Dan Fogler as Jacob, and Alison Sudol as Queenie. These two were really enjoyable in the first film and are no different here. My only issue is that I'm not huge on how their characters were used. Also back is the man whose arrival made me want to walk out of the first film, Johnny Depp as Grindlewald. I've gotta say, I didn't mind him here. His unique look suits the character well, and he felt somewhat menacing, and different from the same character he keeps playing. Ezra Miller also rejoins the cast as Creedence. I like some things they did with his character this time but there are also some things that didn't work for me, but nonetheless Miller takes what he's given and delivers a quite good performance as the conflicted and tormented Creedence. The film has many new additions that I didn't find had enough time for me to have much opinion on them, but the most notable newcomer is Jude Law as Dumbledore. I knew this would be the case going in, but Jude Law is by far the best part of this movie. His performance here feels like when an esteemed older actor stars alongside newcomers, and his pedigree makes the character very strong. Law is only 45, but has the command onscreen of some of the greats. This role allows him to exude his charm and charisma, but also his ability to steal every scene he is in. He doesn't have a ton of screen time which is a shame, but if his role is bigger in the next film that could be enough to make it great. He isn't playing a young Richard Harris or Michael Gambon here, he is playing a young Dumbledore and making the character his own and it is great to watch.
In terms of technical elements I'll start off with things I liked. The visuals are great. The CGI is improved from the first film and the production design is as well, which is saying something because the first film won best production design. The camerawork is quite good for the most part, capturing all the film's beauty in a great way. I also really enjoyed some parts of the score. It isn't as good as the original Harry Potter scores but is still quite good. Now to the issues. First of all, the opening scene sucks. It has a lot of potential but becomes an action sequence that is too dark, fast paced, and choppily cut to follow at all. Not a strong way to start a film. The editing as a whole is kind of bad, jumping from weakly related scenes with pretty much no transition. But that is nothing compared to how bad this script is. I think David Yates does the best he can directing here, because J.K. Rowling is not a good screenwriter. In terms of a worldbuilder and a novelist, I think Rowling is great, but her writing was weak in the first Fantastic Beasts and is far worse here. As I said earlier, the first half of the film isn't too hard to follow. There are some things that if you hadn't recently watched the first film you might need time to catch up on, but other than that it's okay. Then all of the sudden Rowling decides to tie together numerous loose ends that hadn't even been brought up yet at once, tying together underexplained plot points, underdeveloped plot points, and plot points that hadn't even been introduced. We are all of the sudden expected to just know everything about every character, including some that had only been introduced an hour or less prior. This all makes for a confusing mess of a narrative leading into the final act, and that ruins the tone going into the climax. Not only is the tone weakened there, but the climax itself is weak. It seems at first like a great and exciting ending, but is rushed and in the end seems more like connective tissue for the next film. Characters make big emotional choices, but they aren't yet developed enough for those choices to really mean anything. With an entire novel to flesh things out this could have worked, but in the confines of a two hour movie Rowling is unable to give details the attention and relevance they need.
Despite its many flaws can kinda say I liked this movie. I can't give it a positive score, and I really wish I loved it, but it's just way too messy and that's mostly thanks to Rowling. I hope she can either be accompanied by a more experienced writer for the next film, or pass on writing duties entirely, because her screenwriting is tainting the franchise she created.
Rating:2.7/5
Written by Matt McKenzie
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