Review - Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)

         Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, this is it. The last film in the Wizarding World franchise for me to review before the April release of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, which is a movie I'm definitely excited for. For now, however, let's take a look at the second chapter of the Fantastic Beasts series: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. 

         The movie, which is set in the year 1927, opens with dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald being transferred from MACUSA to Europe to stand trial for his crimes, only for him to escape during the trip, with assistance from MACUSA turncoat Abernathy. Three months later, Newt Scamander meets with his brother Theseus, who is currently engaged to marry Newt's former flame Leta Lestrange. Newt's meeting with the higher ups at the Ministry of Magic is to lift the ban on his travels overseas, which they agree to, and they request he join Theseus in the hunt for Grindelwald, which includes locating and finishing off Credence Barebone, who is revealed to have survived his destruction in New York and is now in Europe looking for answers to his identity. Newt refuses to play ball, and his request for travel documentation is denied. 

        Meanwhile, Grindelwald has set up shop in Paris, where he's preparing to hold a mass gathering of witches and wizards who follow him. In addition, Grindelwald is keeping tabs on Credence, whom he wants to join his side willingly. Back in London, Newt meets with Dumbledore, who is revealed to have set him to find Frank the Thunderbird in Egypt, knowing Newt would take him back home to America. Dumbledore requests Newt to find a way to Paris and find Credence, believing that only with familial love and kindness from a rumored sibling could be enough for the Obscurus to lose its control of him. Later, after tending to some of the magical creatures in his home, Newt is met by Jacob and Queenie, who are evidently engaged to be married. Newt quickly realizes that Queenie has Jacob under some kind of love spell, which he lifts almost immediately, and Jacob is quite upset with Queenie. We later see the two argue over them getting married, as Jacob doesn't want to get Queenie in trouble with American wizarding law on his account, but Queenie tries to reassure him that the law is different in England, and they can get married. After a bit of a spar, Queenie disapparates and heads to Paris, where her sister Tina is working on some cases. Newt, seeing a torn up postcard from Tina, decides to head to Paris, with Jacob at his side. 

         Tina, meanwhile, heads to the Circus Arcanus, which is a traveling wizard circus, and we see that Credence is working for the circus now, and has befriended a woman named Nagini. Yeah, remember Voldemort's pet snake from the Harry Potter movies? Well, it turns out that in the past, she was what is known as a Maledictus. A Maledictus is a woman who carries a blood curse that turns them into an animal, but over time, the transformation will be permanent, and she won't be able to take human form ever again. During a demonstration of Nagini's ability, Credence releases a cage full of Fire Drakes, and the whole circus goes away, forcing the owner, Skender, to pack up and leave Paris. 

           Meanwhile at Hogwarts, Dumbledore is confronted by several Aurors, all of whom want him to join in the fight against Grindelwald, and he admits he is unable to do so. Travers, the leader of the group of Aurors, believes that the reason Dumbledore won't act is because of his past ties with Grindelwald, and has Dumbledore restrained with magic suppressing bracelets. 

          From here, the story is kinda all over the place. Credence, along with Nagini, is trying to learn about who he really is. Tina, along with a wizard named Yusuf Kama, is trying to get to Credence before Grindelwald does, and Newt is trying to reconnect with Tina without getting captured by the likes of Theseus and Leta. They do eventually reconnect, and decide to work together. Meanwhile, Jacob, while staying at a safe house, meets French Alchemist Nicolas Flamel, who points him in the direction to find Queenie, who has already been approached by Grindelwald. Finally, Grindelwald releases a series of banners all over Paris, calling his followers to a meeting. Newt and Tina work to find answers to Credence's identity, but only find a clue that leads to the Lestrange family tomb. It's here where everything comes to a head.

         Credence and Nagini are cornered by Yusuf, Leta, Newt, and Tina. Yusuf believes that Credence is the lost son of Corvus Lestrange IV, who used the Imperius Curse to lure Yusuf's mother away from her family, and she gave birth to Leta. Yusuf's mother eventually died, and Lestrange remarried, with his new wife bearing him a son: Corvus Lestrange V. The infant Corvus was then sent to America, along with Leta, in the hopes that Yusuf couldn't find the infant boy and complete the promise to kill the boy, even making the Unbreakable Vow to do so. Leta reveals, however, that Credence couldn't possibly be Corvus because Corvus was already dead by her own hands, revealing that while on the ship sailing for America, Corvus wouldn't stop crying, so she switched him for another baby: Credence. The real Corvus drowned when the ship sank. 

        The group then heads to where Grindelwald's mass gathering is taking place, and both Jacob and Queenie are there as well. Grindelwald then reveals a vision of an impending war among the Muggles, which given the point in time this movie is set, could only be World War II. So, Grindelwald is fighting against the wizarding community hiding from the Muggles not out of hatred for them, but as a means of keeping their arrogant lust for power in check and prevent World War II. Aurors arrive, and Grindelwald's followers all disapparate. Grindelwald then creates a circle of blue fire and asks those willing to do so to step into the circle and join him. Credence does so, followed almost immediately by Queenie. Leta and a number of Aurors are killed, and Grindelwald escapes. The magic blue flames are contained, and the remaining Aurors, Nagini, Jacob, Theseus, and Newt head to meet Dumbledore at Hogwarts. It's here we learn that a relic that Grindelwald kept on his person, and had ties to both Grindelwald and Dumbledore, was a blood pact the two made years before to never fight each other. Theseus removes the magic suppressing bracelets, and everyone heads inside of the castle.

       Meanwhile, at Nurmengard Castle in Austria, Grindelwald speaks with Credence, giving him a wand, and revealing that the baby bird he'd been caring for was, in fact, a Phoenix. It's here where Grindelwald reveals Credence's true name: Aurelius Dumbledore. The movie ends with Credence using his wand to send out a massive blast of magic. 

        Okay, so while Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was pretty straightforward. The Crimes of Grindelwald is excessively complex with way too many plots going on at once. Now, a lot of these were major pieces of character development, but they still really bogged the movie down. 

        All of the returning players from the first movie, like Eddie Redmayne, Dan Fogler, Katherine Waterston, Ezra Miller, and Alison Sudol are all terrific, and I thoroughly enjoyed the expanded role that Johnny Depp had as Gellert Grindelwald. I'll get to him in just a moment. I also enjoyed Zoe Kravitz as Leta Lestrange, who showed that not everyone bearing the name Lestrange is a complete psychopath. Newcomers like Callum Turner as Theseus, Claudia Kim as Nagini, and William Nadylam as Yusuf are all terrific new additions to the cast. But the big stand-out for me was Jude Law as Dumbledore. This was a unique opportunity to see Dumbledore as we haven't seen him before. Jude Law was a terrific choice, and he has the gleam in his eyes that is so distinctly Dumbledore. 

      Now, as for Johnny Depp as Grindelwald. This was definitely one of his better performances in quite some time. He definitely had an aura of menace about him, but you still wanted to side with him. He may be a dark wizard and a villain, but he isn't pure evil like Voldemort. Grindelwald is definitely a dark wizard you don't mind siding with, as what he says and how he says it just makes sense. And, unlike Voldemort who uses force and dark magic to gain followers, Grindelwald takes only willing followers just by using persuasion. Johnny Depp was terrific in this role, and while it's unfortunate he won't be returning for future installments, I still look forward to seeing where actor Mads Mikkelsen takes the character next. Mads, dude, you've got some really big shoes to fill, but I'm confident you're going to be fantastic. 

       The visual design, from the new magical creatures like the Kelpie, to the look of the French Ministry of Magic, to the incredible Circus Arcanus, all of it was just fantastic. It really reminds us fans of why we love this world that J.K. Rowling created. However, the issues aren't with acting or visual design. It's with the plot and with the storytelling. Unfortunately, too much plot happening at once can lead to really slow pacing, which ultimately makes the movie suffer as a result. 

          Even with my minor gripes, I still enjoyed Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. What David Yates and J.K. Rowling did with the movie was still a lot of fun, and I give it a rating of 4.05/5. Well, that's it for the Wizarding World for now. Thanks for keeping up throughout the month, and I definitely look forward to returning to this series in April with Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. Until then, join me in December, as we have yet another major fantasy series about to become twenty years old: The Lord of the Rings trilogy.