Fantastic Beasts: A Disappointing Sequel

SPOILERS

The newest movie in the Harry Potter franchise is “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” and I didn’t think it lived up to the precedent set by the first “Fantastic Beasts.” The plot was confusing and unfulfilling, acting more as a set up for future films than as an independent plot.

The first movie was fun, filled with entertaining creatures and charming 1920’s wizards. The introduction to the United States Wizarding world was full of surprises and beautiful imagery. In the sequel, the plot is more focused on Grindelwald’s quest to make the wizarding world dominate over muggle society, leaving behind the main character, Newt, and his cheerful animal friends.

The story is winding, and at some points incoherent, jumping from subplot to subplot with little to no warning, which may make sense for the novels that J. K. Rowling is used to writing, but is distracting when presented in this medium. In addition, the movie overuses dark lighting to create a scary or negative mood, which sometimes ends up making shots difficult to make out.

The end of the movie is the most disappointing part, closing with a reveal that my more Harry Potter savvy friends tell me would be canonically impossible according to background information provided in the original books.

This connection seemed unnecessary, and more of a method of relating the story to the original Harry Potter series than an actual plot point. Because the movie takes place in the Harry Potter world, the franchise has the opportunity to make money off of that fan base even though the movies are getting increasingly worse.

“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” is a movie in questionable taste, and is not accessible to those who don’t have prior knowledge of the complicated innards of the wizarding world.