Return to the Wizarding World

            On Friday night I went and saw Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, the second movie from a spin-off series of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. Being a huge fan of Harry Potter and the first movie, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, I was incredibly excited to see The Crimes of Grindelwald.

            Honestly, I had two major issues with this movie. I absolutely enjoyed it; it was unlike any movie I had ever seen before. However, my first real problem with it was the pacing. Certain events just seemed to happen too quickly and sporadically. Sometimes I felt like I barely had time to comprehend a current scene before characters immediately traveled to a different place or became involved with a different problem. The second issue I had was with the plot. I believe it could have used more organization and structure. Scenes and events didn’t seem to have as much fluidity and solidarity as the first film. The first Beasts movie also had more of a storyline, whereas The Crimes of Grindelwald just had SO MUCH happening between characters and among the individual characters themselves. J.K. Rowling is beginning to tell a story about this wizarding world through the Beasts movies that I never expected when I first heard about them. I have so many questions and thoughts about the future ones. Despite the few issues I had with The Crimes of Grindelwald, I have many more positive feelings about it.

            One thing I absolutely loved about the film was Eddie Redmayne’s performance as the main character, Newt Scamander. I’m a huge fan of Redmayne as an actor and a person. I think he’s amazing at capturing human emotions in any film he does. For me as a viewer, I can watch one of his movies and feel his character’s emotions through the screen. It’s hard to explain and may sound cliché, but I’ve realized that no other actor has an emotional effect on me like Redmayne does. He seems to know exactly what his characters are feeling and how to portray those emotions with his eyes, face, body language, vocal tone, etc. His depictions really make me feel connected to the film I’m watching and feel for his characters. The filmmakers enhanced this experience with close-ups of Newt’s face or by having Redmayne look directly into the camera lens. I found they did this with other actors as well. I think this element really established a connection between the audience and these characters.

            I also love that my other favorite actor (besides Eddie Redmayne) Johnny Depp is now a member of these movies, playing the most dangerous and darkest wizard of the time: Gellert Grindelwald. I think he did a fantastic job as Grindelwald; his portrayal was extremely convincing and thoroughly executed. Although Grindelwald has a very small, but important role in Harry Potter’s world, Depp really seemed to know exactly how his character thinks and feels, as well as what he believes. I couldn’t have asked for more from Depp; I am so happy with his performance and with Rowling’s decision to cast him. The ending of the movie really showed a explicit example of Grindelwald as a motivating, persuasive, and seductive leader, speaker, and manipulator. I can’t wait to see more of Depp as Grindelwald in the upcoming movies.

            One more aspect about the film that I appreciated was the intricate and complicated relationships and problems the characters experienced. It was so interesting and exciting to see both unfamiliar and familiar characters deal with different emotions and problems. A major point Rowling and others have made was that this movie was going to be darker than any of the other Potter films and I definitely understand why. Characters were battling all types of obstacles dealing with politics (Grindelwald’s escape and growing rise to power), romance, friendship, self-identity, personal beliefs, allegiances, and much more. Audiences really see their favorite characters handling and struggling with all these problems within themselves and with others.

            Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald was not what I was expecting. I’ll admit I did feel a little disappointed with it. The plot was somewhat disorganized and I think there was just about too much going on for one movie. But, I really did enjoy it overall and oftentimes found myself thinking about how much I loved while I was watching it. That being said, I am even more anxious and curious for the next movie, which will come out in two years.