Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

The adventures in the Wizarding World continue. The new movie, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, is the next installment in the popular Harry Potter universe. It stars Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, and Dan Fogler. The story takes place across America, England, France, and Austria. It is rated PG-13.

After his arrest, Gellert Grindelwald escapes and tries to bring Credence back to his side. Newt Scamander is coerced by Professor Albus Dumbledore to find Credence before Grindelwald can get his hands on him. He reunites with No-Maj Jacob Kowalski, while they pursue the help of Tina and Queenie Goldstein so they can help out too. Will they find Credence in time? Can they defeat Grindelwald?

The first 8 films in the Harry Potter series were great stories, so I was excited for the first Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movie. However, I was majorly disappointed. As a result, I didn’t know whether or not I would like this movie. It didn’t fail me, I loved it. Not only were there solid performances, action, and effects, it offers so much more! The story is very detailed, going from a search for magical creatures to a dark wizard hunt. This film features much more heart than the first movie. I also found Newt and Tina to be much more likable, as I previously disliked them. The movie also featured the likability of Jacob and Queenie from the previous installment. However, this film featured a much darker story, similar to the last 5 Harry Potter movies. I walked out of this movie with a much different feeling than the previous installment in the series.

Now to talk about the performances, action, and effects. The people from the first movie continue with their strong performances, so let’s talk about the new people. The most impressive new actor for this movie was Jude Law, the actor for young Professor Albus Dumbledore. He really feels like a younger version of the aged wizard we’ve seen in 8 movies, played by Richard Harris and Michael Gambon. His performance is both likable and believable. There is also Claudia Kim, who plays Nagini. She also gives a strong, believable performance and there is actually a lot of compassion and strength in this character that we know will eventually become a victim. The action is really nonstop and fun to watch, while the effects are convincing and impressive.

There are many callbacks to the Harry Potter movies, which will delight fans but don’t weigh down the plot. This includes both characters and objects. I was actually surprised by the negative reception of this film. Critics called it too complicated and said that it was just trying to set up more movies. I heavily disagree with those comments. The story, while not exactly simple, is set at a good level of content and there is enough in this film to want to come back for the next movies. While I don’t consider it to have the same quality as the Harry Potter movies storyline, it does come close. This is a great movie experience that I recommend for people, fans or not. All the elements in this film come together so nicely that it succeeds at what it’s trying to do and leaves one satisfied.

Overall, this movie was impressive to me and redeemed the faults of the previous movie. It has many fantastic elements and leaves me excited for what happens next. This is a recommended film and a worthy addition to the Harry Potter franchise.