"FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD" (2018) Review

"FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD" (2018) Review

Following the success of the 2016 movie, "FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM", Warner Brothers Studios and author J.K. Rowling continued the adventures of former Hogwarts student, Newt Scamander with the 2018 sequel called "FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD". Starring Eddie Redmayne, the movie was directed by David Yates. 

"FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD" began in 1927, less than a year after the events of the 2016 movie. In the film's opening, the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA) is transferring the powerful dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald from their maximum security prison in New York City to London. The latter is be tried for his crimes in Europe. But with the aide of Grindelwald's follower, MACUSA agent Abernathy, the wizard manages to escapes during the transfer. Three months after Grindelwald's escape, magizoologist Newt Scamander appeals to the Ministry of Magic in London to restore his revoked international travel rights following his previous adventures in New York City. While at the Ministry, Newt learns that his former Hogwarts classmate, Leta Lestrange, is engaged to his brother Theseus, an auror in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The Ministry offers to restore Newt's travel rights if he assists Theseus in locating Credence Barebone, the American obscurial believed to have been killed in Paris. He has been detected in Paris. 

Grindelwald is also searching for Credence. He believes that only the latter is powerful enough to kill his "equal", Hogwarts Professor Albus Dumbledore. Newt declines the Ministry's offer, but is is secretly summoned by Dumbledore, who also tries to persuade Newt to locate Credence. Dumbledore under constant Ministry surveillance for refusing to confront Grindelwald, who was a former close friend from the past. Upon his return home, he discovers that his American friends, the non-magical Jacob Kowalski and witch Queenie Goldstein had left New York. Jacob has retained memories of his past adventures with Newt and the Goldstein sisters, despite MACUSA's citywide Obliviation order. Queenie and Jacob had followed Queenie's sister Tina to Europe, where the latter is searching for Credence. Newt also discovers that Queenie has enchanted Jacob into eloping to Europe with her to circumvent MACUSA's marriage ban between wizards and Muggles. After Newt lifts the charm, Jacob and Queenie quarrel about the marriage law, and the upset witch leaves to find Tina. Newt ignores the Ministry's travel ban and with Jacob, head for Paris in search for the Goldstein sisters and Credence.

"FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD" proved to be an unpopular entry in the HARRY POTTER movie franchise. Even a year before the film's release, many had criticized the film's producers, including J.K. Rowling, for allowing actor Johnny Depp to take over the role of Gellert Grindelwald in the wake of his controversial divorce. Ironically, once "THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD" hit the movie theaters, both the critics and many moviegoers expressed other reasons for their displeasure. Either these criticisms were merely used as shields to hide their displeasure at Depp's presence in the movie, or they genuinely did not like it. Although "THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD" actually managed to make a profit, it did not make as much as its 2016 predecessor. Nor did it make as much as Warner Brothers Studios had anticipated. So . . . how did I feel about the movie?

I will admit that I have some problems with "THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD". I never admitted this in my review of "FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM", but I had noticed Rowling's habit of creating two or more disjointed story lines and allowing them to connect near the end of the film. As much as I admired her use of this narrative structure, I must admit that there were times when I found it frustrating. To be honest, I found it more frustrating in "FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM", especially Newt Scamander's search for his missing animals. But in "THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD", there were times when I found myself wondering why Rowling had focused so heavily on Leta Lestrange's character arc/backstory and Queenie Goldstein's problems with her non-magical love, Jacob Kowalski. I also had a problem with Colleen Atwood's costumes. On one level, I found her costumes very attractive, as shown in the images below:

 



And yet . . . aside from the costumes and hairstyle worn by actress Katherine Waterston, I found the other costumes and hairstyles reminiscent of the early 1930s, instead of 1927, the film's actual setting. Speaking of the timeline, could someone explain why Minerva McGonagall was a teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, when either the Harry Potter novels or the franchise's official website made it clear that she was born in 1935, eight years after this movie's setting. Around this time, Dumbledore was teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, which means that a young McGonagall was teaching Transfiguration.  What was McGonagall teaching, when Dumbledore became the Transfiguration teacher by the 1940s?

"FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD" had its flaws, like any other movie. But I enjoyed it very much. Actually . . . I enjoyed it slightly more than I did the 2016 movie. The reason why I enjoyed it more than the first film is probably the reason why many others liked it less. J.K. Rowling had written an emotionally complicated tale that reminded me that humans beings are a lot more ambiguous than many are STILL unwilling to admit. They might pay lip service to the ambiguity of humans, but I have encountered too much hostility directed at movies willing to explore the complex nature of humans and society in general . . . especially in pop culture films. Some might claim that such ambiguity has no place in pop culture films and franchises. My response to that claim is . . . why not? I see no reason why humanity's ambiguity should only be tolerated in films being considered for the film industry's award season.

I noticed in "THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD" that the majority of Gellert Grindelwald's followers were not "dark wizards" or superficially evil. I must admit that the Vinda Rosier, Grindelwald's loyal right-hand follower, seemed to be the film's closest example of the future Deatheaters that followed Lord Voldemort aka Tom Riddle Jr. Most of Grindelwald's other followers seemed to be your typical human beings who had allowed their emotions to indulge in the usual prejudices or make bad choices. One example is the MACUSA agent Abernathy, who had earlier supported President Seraphina Picquery in the 2016 film. But the prime example in "THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD" proved to be Queenie Goldstein, the New York-born Legilimens (telepath), who out of her desperation to be with the non-magical Jacob Kowalski, turned to Grindelwald to help her achieve her heart's desire. Many fans had condemned the movie for this portrayal of Queenie. And I do not understand why. 

"FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM" had already hinted Queenie's desperation to be with Jacob, when she conveyed reluctance to follow MACUSA President Seraphina Picquery's orders to ensure the erasure of his recent memories. She broke the rules even further by paying a visit to Jacob's new bakery in one of the film's final scenes. More importantly, Queenie had discovered that Jacob had retained some memories of his adventures with her, Tina and Newt. This is why I am not surprised that Queenie had resorted to desperate measures in "THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD" to make Jacob her husband. Love might lead a person to do wonderful things. But it can also lead someone to make questionable or terrible decisions. J.K. Rowling understood this. I never understood why so many people were incapable of doing so.

The ironic thing about "FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD" is that the movie not only featured former protagonists like Queenie Goldstein and Agent Abernathy, who had decided to follow Grindelwald, it also featured . . . Leta Lestrange. Any fan of Potterverse will remember another character with the Lestrange name - Voldemort follower Bellatrix Lestrange. Although Bellatrix had married into the Lestrange family, fans learned that her husband was another one of Voldemort's highly murderous and faithful followers. I do recall that the 2016 film may have hinted that Leta was briefly as someone from Newt's past who may or may not have deliberately led him into trouble and expelled from Hogwarts. Thanks to "THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD", audiences learned that Leta was NOT someone who lived up to her pure-blood family's name and who proved to be a different kettle of fish. She was not perfect. Her one crime . . . which led to years of guilt . . . stemmed from resentment toward her father's sexist desire for a male heir. As a young girl aboard a sinking ocean liner headed for the United States, she made an ugly decision that affected both her family and Credence Barebone.

The characterizations of both Queenie Goldstein and Leta Lestrange, along with Gellert Grindelwald's followers made J.K. Rowling's intent to continue her ambiguous portrayal of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. But instead of viewing this ambiguity from a growing child, audiences get to witness this ambiguity through the eyes of an adult. Instead of realizing that individuals we might perceive as "bad" can also possess decency within, Rowling seemed to be hinting that those whom we might originally perceive as "good or decent" can allow their emotions to make terrible choices or embrace evil. Granted, fans learned in the previous series that Albus Dumbledore had once skated on the edge of giving into some parts of his baser nature. But through characters like Queenie Goldstein and Agent Abernathy, agents get to see how originally perceived "decent" characters can allow their emotions and desires to embrace evil . . . not for any moral good, but due to their own selfishness or prejudices. It is a pity that so many are unwilling to explore this journey with Rowling.

Although I had criticized the film's costumes for resembling the fashions of the early 1930s, instead of the late 1920s, I must admit that I found Colleen Atwood's designs very attractive and very original. I rarely comment on a film's editing, but I found Film Editor Mark Day's work in the movie first-rate. I was especially impressed by his work in two particular sequences - Grindelwald's escape in the film's first action sequence and another one featuring a wizarding freak show in Paris. I was also impressed by Philippe Rousselot's cinematography . . . to a certain extent. Rousselot's photography struck me as beautiful and memorable - especially in the Parisian scenes and one particular flashback scene in the Atlantic Ocean. But I really disliked the monochromatic tones (blue, yellow or green) that seemed to dominate the movie's photography . . . as much as I disliked the brown tones that dominated "FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM". Also, production designer Stuart Craig, set designer Anna Pinnock, the art direction team led by Martin Foley and the special effects team all did an exceptional job to re-create the wizarding worlds of New York, London, Scotland and Paris.

"FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD" featured some first-rate performances. Lead actor Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Carmen Ejogo, Claudia Kim and Ezra Miller all gave excellent performances. But there were performances that I found more than first-rate. Jude Law was superb as the enigmatic and younger Professor Albus Dumbore, who seemed warm and manipulative as ever. William Nadylam gave a very complex and passionate performance as Yusuf Kama: A French-Senegalese wizard who has spent many years obsessively searching for Credence, whom he believed was responsible for the death of a family member. Callum Turner's portrayal of Theseus Scamander, Newt's brother, first seemed pretty solid. But his performance became more complex and interesting, thanks to Turner's skillful acting. Alison Sudol gave an outstanding performance as the increasingly desperate Queenie Goldstein, who allowed her love for Jacob and emotions to lead to a morally questionable decision. Zoë Kravitz was equally outstanding as Newt's former love, Leta Lestrange, who became emotionally troubled and confused over a morally questionable decision from the past. But the best performance, in my opinion, came from Johnny Depp, who portrayed the film's main villain, Gellert Grindelwald. Depp's Grindelwald seemed like a completely different kettle of fish from the more obvious villains of the Harry Potter novel. More subtle, subversive and manipulative. Insidious. The franchise's Palpatine perhaps? Honestly, Depp's Grindelwald made Tom Riddle Jr. aka Lord Voldemort seem like a rank amateur as far as villains go.

This 2018 sequel to "FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM" proved to be a disappointment at the box office. Between the controversy over Depp's casting and the hostile reaction to the Queenie Goldstein character, I guess I should not be surprised. But I am disappointed that the majority of moviegoers had failed to appreciate Rowling's story, because I thought it was first-rate, thanks to her screenplay, David Yates' direction and the excellent cast led by Eddie Redmayne. To be honest, I personally feel that it was slightly better than its 2016 predecessor. Perhaps one day, more filmgoers will be able to appreciate it.