10s Movie Review - Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

Director: David Yates
Genre: Adventure/ Fantasy/ Family
Runtime: 134 minutes
Year: 2018
Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Zoë Kravitz, Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler, Katherine Waterstone

Description: The second installment of the "Fantastic Beasts" series featuring the adventures of Magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne).

Review: In 2016 Warner Bros. and director David Yates brought us a spin-off for the Harry Potter Franchise: “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”. J.K. Rowling wrote the screenplay and situated the Harry Potter universe in 1920s New York. I worked and Newt Scamander was an interesting and loveable character.
At the start of “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald”, wizard Grindelwald has been in prison for six months. With his charm, he manages to escape the prison. He travels to Paris and starts to recruit followers. The government wants to catch him as soon as possible, so a true cat and mouse game unfolds.
In the first film, Grindelwald was after Credence Barebone. He appeared to be an extreme powerful wizard that Grindelwald wanted on his side. At the end of that film, everyone thought he died. But Credence is in Paris, looking for his parents. And Grindelwald is looking for Credence. To stop Grindelwald from his evil plans, Albus Dumbledore sends former student Newt Scamander to find Credence. But Newt and Grindelwald aren’t the only ones looking for him. A lot happening in the sequel.
And that’s the problem with this film. Although it’s amazing to step into the magical, wonderful fantasy of J.K. Rowling and to get to know the Parisian wizarding world, there is too much going on. Newt doesn’t feel like the main character anymore, while the franchise is set around him. If they used less storylines, it would have been better.
But there is enough to enjoy. New fable animals, like the Chinese Zouwu. A big lion dragon, who looks amazing and has a great role in the film. The action is spectacular and the finale is satisfying. It’s mainly all those storylines that make it too heavy.

Rating: 3 / 5