J.K. Rowling’s whimsical Wizarding World series becomes a bit larger and more fleshed out in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald delivers a strong follow-up with great performances from its leading cast.
Hogwarts professor Albus Dumbledore [Jude Law] enlists the help of former pupil Newt Scamander [Eddie Redmayne] to take down Gellert Grindelwald [Johnny Depp], a dark wizard who has escaped incarceration and is hell-bent on raising pure-blood wizards to rule over No-Majs [Muggles].
The Crimes Of Grindelwald is a weird rather than fantastic beast. The second chapter in J.K. Rowling’s five-part story, it’s a film stuffed with characters, big moments and impressive spectacle but still feels bizarrely underpowered. There are twists and revelations, but very few that alter the outcome of the film you are actually watching. Just like the first one, it still feels like set-up for bigger pay-offs down the line, without the satisfying cliff-hanger qualities of, say, The Empire Strikes Back.
The beginning is a lively affair, as Grindelwald [Johnny Depp], being shipped to Europe to stand trial, masterminds a thrilling escape from a flying stagecoach. Dumbledore [Jude Law] sends Newt Scamander [Eddie Redmayne] to Paris, where numerous interested parties are searching for orphan Credence Barebone [a dialled-down Ezra Miller] who survived the events of New York and holds the key to the wizarding world battle. Yet Rowling’s writing doesn’t imbue this hunt with any urgency — Newt is distracted by his search for love interest Tina [Katherine Waterston, wasted in another franchise after Alien: Covenant]; even Grindelwald seems content just to let Credence come to him. Any potential dynamism is further blunted by emphasis on sub-plots [Dan Fogler’s Muggle Jacob chasing Alison Sudol’s pure-blood Queenie] and backstories such as a stretch devoted to new character Leta Lestrange’s [Zoë Kravitz] lineage. It’s the stuff that suits novels but dissipates the momentum of a movie.
The Crimes Of Grindelwald works harder than the previous tale to tie into the series history.
From the smallest detail [Leta Lestrange’s shoes] to the most expansive world-building [the French Ministry Of Magic], the craft on show is impressive. It’s matched by Rowling’s imagination peppering the story with charming invention such as a cheeky wind spell. Happily, Eddie Redmayne’s Newt Scamander anchors the madness better this time round, less tic-y and more engaged. Newt is less a diffident doofus here, more a man big-hearted enough to love any creature.
The Crimes Of Grindelwald works harder than the previous tale to tie into the series history. There’s mostly flash-backed returns to Hogwarts, Voldemort’s snake Nagini [Claudia Kim in human form] and the vaunted appearance of young Dumbledore, Jude Law bringing tweed and a twinkle to a more mischievous take on the professor. The question of Dumbledore’s sexuality is coyly suggested rather than heartily expressed — if it’s passed you by that Dumbledore is gay, you still might be none the wiser.
Elsewhere Rowling further sews modernity into the proceedings, from a family tree that neglects to give women their due to Grindelwald himself, his Trumpian fake news rhetoric normalising the most horrific ideas about No-Maj cleansing. Depp, bleached blond with shifting eye colouration, gives serviceable villain in only a handful of scenes, his master-plan building to a rally where you expect a sea of red MAKE MAGIC GREAT AGAIN caps. Instead, there is some spectacular CG sturm und drang. Just don’t expect to leave the meeting with any answers.
An enjoyable foray into J.K. Rowling’s imagination, bolstered by a more appealing Eddie Redmayne, but you can’t help feeling The Crimes Of Grindelwald is still treading water until future chapters.
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Dir: David Yates; Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Jude Law, Johnny Depp. Cert 12A, 133 mins.
You need to be good at family trees to keep up with the second Fantastic Beasts feature. JK Rowling has written a fantastically complicated screenplay, full of brothers, sisters and star-crossed lovers who all have fraught relationships with one another. An explosive final reel, set around the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, only goes a certain distance towards making matters clearer.
Like its predecessor, The Crimes of Grindelwald has some very dark moments that veer off into the realm of Fritz Lang-like film noir. These are interspersed with plenty of knockabout comedy. The performances are every bit as vivid as the special effects. Director David Yates and his team show their now expected levels of virtuoso craftsmanship. In terms of production values, this is Rolls Royce filmmaking. The film boasts an astonishing level of visual detail and inventiveness. The only drawback is that Rowling has included so many different characters and sub-plots that the narrative momentum is sometimes lost.
The film opens a year on from its predecessor, in New York in 1927. Dark wizard Grindelwald [Johnny Depp] is under lock and key. The American Ministry of Magic has gone to extreme lengths to stop him escaping.
Over in London, 13 months later, Newt Scamander [Eddie Redmayne] is busy with his magical beasts. He’s a Gerald Durrell-like figure, never happier than when he is feeding or exercising his animals – his beloved nifflers, kelpies and assorted other creepy-crawlies. After the happenings in the last movie, he is still deeply distrusted at the British Ministry of Magic where his more straitlaced brother Theseus [Callum Turner] works. Newt is banned from travelling aboard. However, with the 100-year peace between wizards and non-wizards under severe threat from Grindelwald, Newt’s services may well be needed. When he is approached by his old teacher, Albus Dumbledore [Jude Law looking very dashing and Richard Hannay-like in a tweed suit], he reluctantly agrees to help.
Eddie Redmayne in ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald’ [Warner Bros]
Newt may seem chaotic and impractical but he is just as courageous as he was in the first film. As Dumbledore notes of him, he doesn’t seek favour or popularity but simply asks if a thing is “right”. Redmayne plays him in sly fashion, making sure that we are always aware that, for all his bumbling, he is practical, resourceful and principled.
Many of the protagonists from the first film reappear. Jacob Kowalski [Dan Fogler], the rotund and cheery bakery owner, hasn’t had his memory “obliviated” after all. He is still in love with Queenie [Alison Sudol, who delivers her lines in a breathless, Marilyn Monroe-like gasp], even if she has been using her wizarding powers to keep him besotted.
Romantic misunderstandings abound. Queenie’s sister Tina Goldstein [Waterston] isn’t at all sure that Newt loves her any more. Leta Lestrange [Zoë Kravitz] is engaged to Theseus but it’s hinted that Newt may be her real sweetheart. Lots of the characters here are searching for answers about their true family identities or the real feelings of their loved ones. Dumbledore has “history” with Grindelwald. They were once very close indeed. Now, the evil wizard seems like his dark reflection.
The casting of Depp was criticised in certain quarters following his divorce from Amber Heard amid allegations of domestic abuse. Whatever the upheavals in his private life, Depp is still a consummate screen actor. His portrayal of Grindelwald rekindles memories of his old mentor, Vincent Price, in some of his more outré roles. White haired, softly spoken and with very pale skin, he dresses in black and looks from a distance like a new romantic pop star. In his restraint and quiet malevolence, he is the utter antithesis of Depp’s Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean films. Depp features far more prominently here than in the first film – but he is one character among many.
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This is an ensemble piece. At times, it becomes very cluttered. There are flashbacks to school days in which we see Newt as a youngster and Leta Lestrange using her magic to silence the school bullies. We are whisked from New York to London and then on to Paris. The plot has circus scenes, including South Korean actress Claudia Kim as the shape-shifting Nagini undergoing an extraordinary transformation, as well as chases and explosions. In one ill-judged montage, we peer into the future and the characters catch glimpses of the Second World War and of atomic bombs. With so different narrative strands, the storytelling risks becoming tangled. Even so, The Crimes of Grindelwald is rich and intriguing fare that will leave viewers impatient for the next sequel [if only so they can make more sense of what has been going on here.]
Why did Johnny Depp step down from Fantastic Beasts?
Daniel Kreps. Johnny Depp has resigned — following Warner Bros' urging — from his role as Grindenwald in the Fantastic Beasts series, the actor announced Friday, days after he lost his libel lawsuit against a U.K. publisher that accused him of domestic violence.
Is Fantastic Beasts 2 worth watching?
Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald is a decent addition to J.K. Rowling's universe. I think I still like the first one more. It's obviously a bit of a filler film, which some people may not like, but I don't have a problem with. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald was a disappointment.
Why does Grindelwald look so different?
Why did they make Grindelwald's appearance in FBAWTFT so different from the one in the HP movie? Grindelwald is much older in Fantastic Beasts, so it would make sense his appearance reflects his age. He doesn't look as freaky as Voldemort, but his appearance may also reflect the effects of evil.
Will Johnny Depp return for Fantastic Beasts 4?
Despite Mads Mikkelsen teasing otherwise, Johnny Depp isn't likely to return as Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts 4. After the lukewarm box office returns of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrest of Dumbledore, the future of the Fantastic Beasts franchise is uncertain. Warner Bros.