Compared to Harry Potter series, many find the first Fantastic Beasts movie not that fantastic. Yet I still find it enjoyable with like-able characters and pretty nice approach of featuring the beasts (to match the title) and still have the plot on Grindelwald coming a long. Since the first trailer for the Crimes of Grindelwald was released, I am so excited and hyped for the movie. I just watched it and sadly I have to agree with critics who say that this is just a cash grab to milk the success of Harry Potter.
The Crimes of Grindelwald is a huge disappointment. The story is weak and the characters seemingly do things and make decisions any good reasons. Why is everyone suddenly interested in finding Credence? They do not even seem surprised and wonder how Credence survived and end up in Paris. Why do Queenie and Jacob go to London? How does Queenie turn upside down from her character in the first movie? I can go on and on with other characters. So it feels like these are just being randomly put together to make the story happen. In fact, I don't sense any threat from Grindelwald and any motivation from the characters to stop him. That is supposed to be the main plot driving the story, isn't it?
There are so many characters that it is difficult to keep track and the movie does not even bother to introduce who these people are to begin with. Sadly the characters are underdeveloped and the potential of having interesting characters end up becoming a crowded movie with forgettable characters. Even the 4 main characters from the first movie do not feel like main characters here.
The revelation that Credence is Aurelius Dumbledore and hence possibly Albus Dumbledore's brother is shocking since it is established in Harry Potter that Dumbledore's siblings are Aberforth and Ariana. I hope JK Rowling ultimately has a good plot twist regarding this Aurelius. If this turns out to be some retcon, I think she is just destroying the whole Harry Potter universe that is already perfectly crafted before all this Fantastic Beasts mess.
I think they can drop the 'Fantastic Beasts' tag for the subsequent movies. I already find not enough creatures in the first movie and they are almost non-existent in this movie. Some are simply squeezed in just to fulfil the title that there are beasts in the movie.
The Crimes of Grindelwald is supposed to be darker than the first movie but thanks to the poor story, I don't see any conflict or any climax in the movie. There is hardly any nice action/fight scenes. The escape of Grindelwald is underwhelming and the supposedly climactic showdown ends up as boring CGI with no fight whatsoever which is even worse than anime or cartoon fight scenes.
Clearly I am very disappointed with the movie and I cannot even find one good thing that I like from the movie. I was so eager to get the screenplay book, the book on the movie making, and the wands after the first movie but I am feeling none of this now. In my opinion, there is no story, no action, no magic, and nothing fantastic from Fantastic Beasts and the Crimes of Grindelwald.
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