Movie Review of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

With a heavy heart and grief-stricken mind, I have to write this review Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald it’s a 2018 fantasy film directed by David Yates and written by J. K. Rowling. A joint British and American production, it is the sequel to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016).

Like every other potter verse enthusiast I have also enchanted by the story of a Boy wizard, my teen years were spent encroached by the charm of Harry Potter and his magical realm, which also influenced my youth, so likely when the prequels were announced I was delighted and expected to spend much time in that magical parallel. 

But sad to inform you The Crimes of Grindelwald does have glimmers of the magic familiar to Harry Potter fans, but the story's spell isn't as strong as earlier installments.  The film features an ensemble cast that includes Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Zoë Kravitz, Callum Turner, Claudia Kim, William Nadylam, Kevin Guthrie, Jude Law, and Johnny Depp. 

The plot follows Newt Scamander and Albus Dumbledore as they attempt to take down the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald while facing new threats in a more divided wizarding world. Putting aside direction, editing and all the technical mechanisms, the cornerstone of any visual art is a great engaging and engulfing narrative, on which this movie failed to deliver miserably, it has too many narrative points with too much perceptive subtext, which drastically overcrowded the storytelling mechanism with no or minimal allure Audience got lost in its labyrinths of plot structure and metaphorical representation of social dogmas and the result was an incoherent screenplay with too much camera movements and unscrupulous marketing strategy.

The film throws plenty of plot twists, loud noises, and multihued magical nebulae at us, but rarely is there much tension, or sense of adventure, or any real longing, just the feeling of watching one chess piece after another being moved into position. Only in the last ten minutes or so it really found its focal point and essential narrative line, for this I was a bit relieved. The movie tried to instigate the allegory of our social divide in the wizarding community.

Which reflects current socio-political scenario, it tried to dazzle us with a story of love and human soul’s craving for it and above all, it took over a daunting task of manifesting the nostalgia of Dumbledore and Grindelwald's relationship and the regret and longing of our beloved professor. But at the precipice of glory, it failed blatantly and left for us a mild average movie to watch.

Alas, in this disintegrated mess of intertwined narratives Jude Law and Johnny Depp blossomed like marigold petals with dazzling performances. The calm, cool, collective demure of Albus Dumbledore portrayed fabulously by Jude law, every one of his acting schematics brought back the memory of the beloved and wise professor. On the other hand, the manipulative, scheming and genius dark wizard Grindelwald was manifested ardently on the screen by Johny Depp. 

Among others, Eddie Redmayne and Zoë Kravitz brought some gravitate to their portrayals. in the unfinished Lestrange family, drama and diffused plot which exist in a narrative are only for alluring potter fans, Zoe kravitz holds her own ground with an emotionally nuanced portrayal of leta lestrange.

Having all said and done This Fantastic Beasts film is as watchable and entertaining as expected... but some of the wonders, novelty and sheer narrative rush of the first film has been mislaid in favor of a more diffuse plot focus, spread out among a bigger ensemble cast. If you are a seeker in the potter verse you have to watch it for the sake of the last minute epilogue which will leave you with a bit of nostalgia and a bit dodgy family tree scenario. 
I am going with 7.0/10, if you are a potter fan and admirers of magical realm go check it out, otherwise ……..