Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald

The movie is the sequel to “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”, based on the books by J.K. Rowling. The film is in the “Wizarding World of Harry Potter” series. The Fantastic Beasts films are prequels to the Harry Potter books and films.

There are several lead characters in the story; the first is “Newt Scamander”, deftly played by Eddie Redmayne. Newt is a timid person who a Doctor Doolittle character of sorts, someone in his element with magical creatures than with people. He knows how to handle, and tend to, every creature he comes across.

The second main character in the cast is “Gellert Grindelwald”, played by Johnny Depp. He is a high wizard on the dark side of the “wizarding world.” Much like Voldemort to come, Grindelwald believes that only magical families of pure blood should hold power.

The third main character in the film is “Albus Dumbledore”, played by Jude Law. Dumbledore, at this point, is a professor at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He engages Newt Scamander into a task that Newt literally cannot refuse.

The first movie in the series was not to my liking. I enjoyed meeting Newt, and entering the “wizarding world” before Harry Potter, Hermione and Ron ever got to Hogwarts. Yet, the movie was set in New York City, not in Europe; audiences, myself included, had not seen the American version of that world before. It was a world the audience was unfamiliar with, and none of the characters known from the Harry Potter series were present.

“Crimes of Grindelwald”, however, is the antithesis of the first film, in my opinion. It is set in 1927 in Europe, in the magical versions of London and Paris. The audience gets to see the London Ministry of Magic, as well as the French Ministry of Magic. I noticed the differences in the office styles, the windows, the statues, everything of the make-up of the buildings.

The movie is complex and multi-faceted, as are the books of J.K. Rowling. I could not begin to explain it or tell you the nuanced details of the story if I tried.

Still, I felt at home in this film. The audience returns to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We enter the classroom again and see students attempt to cast a “Riddikulus” spell on a Boggart. I also noticed key magical objects and characters throughout the film, which will surface later in the Harry Potter films.

With this familiarity, there is a welcome sense of newness and discovery in the "wizarding world." The audience is introduced to the magic of that world in a completely new way, with magical phenomena and a menagerie of magical creatures not yet seen on film. 

If you are a fan of the Harry Potter series, you will enjoy this film.  If you don’t know the Harry Potter books or the films, I think it would serve a firm foundation before viewing the “Fantastic Beasts” series.

4 stars, now on Blu Ray, DVD, YouTube, Vudu, Google Play