Sophia Allen
Lantern Staff
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, which was released Friday, Nov. 16, is the second film in a five part series following Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne). The series takes place before the events of Harry Potter. Though the first film, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, was mostly a lighthearted story, the second installment sets a darker tone.
Some time has passed since the events of the first film. Newt has returned to England and has lost touch with his American friends, and Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp), a powerful dark wizard, has broken out of prison and began gaining followers.
Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) has been urged to find and take down Grindelwald, but cannot because of a blood pact the two made when they were young. Because of this, Dumbledore enlists Newt to help fight Grindelwald.
At first, Newt is reluctant, but falls into it when he ends up in Paris searching for his friend Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston). Once Newt finds her, both of them try to find Credence (Ezra Miller), who the Ministry of Magic believes to be dangerous and at risk of being recruited to Grindelwald’s army.
At the end of the film, though, Credence, Tina’s sister Queenie, and many others have joined Grindelwald’s army and have disappeared to a remote castle. The wizarding world seems to be on the verge of war.
Though all of the original Harry Potter films and the first of the Fantastic Beasts series were very well made, the quality of this one is not as good. While The Crimes of Grindelwald is a good film, the expectation of the quality level of the previous films made it somewhat disappointing.
There are multiple plot holes in this film, which has never been a problem in the Harry Potter universe–so far. One of these is the presence of Minerva McGonagall in a flashback to when Newt was a student at Hogwarts. According to the information given in the film and on Pottermore, there are still eight years until Professor McGonagall would be born, but she is shown as an adult. Though it is not that big of a deal, these small details have never been missed before.
A much bigger question arises from Credence’s identity. He was raised in an orphanage in New York, but his family is from Europe. For some time, it is thought that he is a member of the Lestrange family, but it is revealed that the Lestrange child sent to America on the Titanic had likely drowned. Later, Grindelwald tells Credence that he is a Dumbledore, but that does not fit with the previous details given about the Dumbledore children.
Overall, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is an ok movie. Though it is a good story with plenty of cute animals, it does not match the quality of previous ‘Harry Potter’ films. 8/10