A return from the Wizarding World
BY IAN VAN ORDEN
ARTS. & CULTURE -EDITOR
Warner Bros.
The W izarding World has returned w ith the second
installm ent o f the Fantastic Beasts series. “ Fantastic
Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” serves as the second
film in a planned five film series that began with the
release o f "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”
in 2016.
F o llo w in g th e ecce n tric ad ven tu res o f N ew t
Scamander, portrayed by Eddie Redmayne, the series
sees the wizard reluctantly pulled into the story’s larger
conflict against the evil wizard Gellert Grindelwald,
portrayed by Johnny Depp in a brief cameo at the end
o f the first movie and prominently in the sequel.
“ Fantastic Beasts 2” picks up a short while after the
events o f the first movie and sees the return of most
o f the original cast. Grindelw ald,w ho had previously
been captured by Scamander near the end of the first
film , escapes his confinement and sets to work creating
a conspiracy to elevate wizards above their m uggle
counterparts.
M uch of the plot revolved around the search for
Credence Barebone, portrayed by Ezra M iller, as he is
believed to be from a powerful bloodline. Grindelwald
seeks him but to take advantage of his pbwer, while
the others, including Scamander attem pt to keep him
out o f the villain’ s hands.
O f the main cast, the standout role is easily Redmayne,
who continues his excellent portrayal of the character
from the first movie. He is able to perfectly embody
the character’ s quirky personality, from his love of the
magical beasts he cares for, to his awkward interactions
With love interest Tina Goldstein, who also returns in
"Fantastic Beasts 2 .”
Jude Law’s Albus Dumbledore is also noteworthy,,
though his part in the movie is still relatively b rief,
portraying a younger, though equally troubled, version
of the character.
•
. Qn the other side of the spectrum, several characters
did not perform quite as w ell. M iller was one of the
worst, though it is not entirely Miller’s doing. The movie
reveals Barebone to be a character of some importance,
buf in doing so creates a mess of unnecessary twists that
in the end feel very contrived. The character itself is also
fairly flat, following his single motivation no matter the
consequences. Even after finding a companion who he
seems to connect With, he throws everything away to
follow a dark path that will undoubtedly lead to oblivion.
The movie also includes a number of characters that
feel superfluous at best and lore-breakirig at worst.
One of the m ost prom inent, the m aledictus N agini,
who eventually goes on to become one of Voldemort’ s
companions in the Harry Potter series, is included, but
never seems to find a real reason to be there.
The most questionable inclusion is that of Minerva
M cG onagall. Though only seen in passing during a
brief flashback set in Hogwarts itself, the inclusion
introduces an odd tim eline issue. It had previously been
established that McGonagall would n o t be born until
the mid 30’ s in the universes tim eline, but somehow
appears in a flashback set before the events of the film ,,
which itself takes place in 1927.
A common com plaint that has been made regarding
the movie is its lack of narrative substance. Much of the
movie is spent setting up the upcoming sequels, and
the m ovie’ s narrative suffers for it. There is very little
payoff during the movie’ s climax, which instead serves
to draw the lines between the upcoming factions in what
is inevitably going to become a war within the wizarding
com munity. Because, many o f the m ovie’ s twists feel
forced or unnecessary, it can leave the movie feeling
a bit empty. This is particularly unfortunate because
there is a lot of charm to be found in "Fantastic Beasts.”
Especially following the first movie, which brought
new life to the Wizarding World and, in many ways,
brought magic to life in aw a y never before seen in
the m ovies, th is m o vie’ s failin gs, feel even more
pronounced. f
, The movie is good, but it could very easily have been
great. Much of the blame is likely to be fairly placed
on J. K. Rowling, who wrote the script fo r the movie.
The w riting itself seems to be the cause of m ost of the
m ovie’s failings, after all: ■ \
The movie is one that casual fans are likely to enjoy,
though, and hardcore fans are likely to find infuriating.
Unfortunately, fans will have to wait for the release of
the next entry in the series before it can be decided if
this m ovie’s setup leads to a satisfying payoff.
COMING SOON TO THEATERS
Boo Pictures
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