Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)

Perhaps it's because of Johnny Depp, J.K. Rowling feeding us bullshit all the time, or both, but I didn't care that much about Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. I didn't even bother watching the trailer. I went to see it anyway because I've seen all the Harry Potter movies and Steve McQueen's Widows was not an option in my theater.

Following the events of its predecessor, the film begins with the powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) escaping from custody with the aid of his followers, most of which are not aware of his true agenda: to raise pure-blood wizards up to rule over everyone, magical and non-magical beings. In an effort to stop Grindelwald, Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) enlists his former student Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne). 

The biggest problem this film has is the plot. It's not terrible, there just isn't one. All the film does is feeding us information as if its only purpose was to set upcoming films in the series. Because of this, it's difficult if not impossible to tell what the film is about. But there's more, it doesn't make a lot of sense most of the time and not so many appealing things happen, so the film ends up being dreadfully tedious —I was struggling to stay awake five minutes into the film, I was super awake during the break, and when the film restarted, I started struggling again.

The characters are just as unappealing. They introduce so many new characters, none of them gets enough screen time nor the development they deserve. The result is shallow, paper thin new characters, and inconsistent old ones —Tina, for instance, was a strong woman and Auror in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them; in here, she is a mere love interest and sidekick. How disappointing! Also, there isn't much of a connection between the characters which makes the film even more confusing. 

The acting is a tiny bit better. Eddie Redmayne is annoying as always but at least he does a decent job as Newt Scamander, conveying his eccentricities very well and still making the character very likeable. Ezra Miller has potential but unfortunately, he's buried under the dreadful script and there's really nothing he can do. Jude Law somehow manages to do a good job and he is believable as the young Albus Dumbledore. As for Johnny Depp, the dude yet again does what he always does when his role requires a lot of makeup.

Warner Bros. Pictures

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald doesn't even work comedy-wise either. While there's still plenty of humour throughout to balance the dark tones of the film, it just isn't that effective. Most of the jokes are recycled from the first film and because of it, they don't work. And when they do work, they are nothing but chuckles —I wasn't the only one to feel this way, everyone at my screening did. 

Visually, however, the film is beautiful. The special effects are incredible, the cinematography, although I was not a fan of some camera movements and close shots, is very nice, and the costumes, sets and makeup are great.