Just saw it. It is far and away, the best Potterverse movie. Every scene with Depp and Jude Law was iof the highest calibration. While Eddy Redmayne is a fine thespian (as evidenced by his Oscar), I hope the rest of the series relegates him and the misused Katherine Waterston to the background.
The Grindelwald and Dumbledore scenes are excellent, and it really sets up their coming duel well. The ostensible leads are good and cute enough, but really cannot see Newt as anything but ginger lovechild of Harry & Hagrid. I liked the reveal at the end, that Credance is a Dumbledore and I hope that it turns out that the Obscurus is Arianas, since the boy is obviously too young to be Dumbledore brother and while Albus could have sired him, I think that works better.
Jude Law was perfection. Eddie Redmayne was adorable but he and Katherine Watterson have zero chemistry. The actress who plays Nagini is stunningly beautiful but her character didn’t have much to do. It all felt like a setup for the next movie.
One little thing that bugged me was the Ministry crew apparating directly onto the Hogwarts grounds. It’s well-established in the books that you can’t Apparate or Disapparate (except for house-elves) in the castle or on the grounds. Hermione tells us this is noted in Howarts, A History so we know it’s a long-standing rule. They could have just showed the Ministry crew knocking on the front door; didn’t have to include this big incongruity.
The “your eyes are like salamanders” bit was cute though.
I miss Newt’s Zoo suitcase. We got nifflers and a Chinese dragon. I need more magical critters.
Since JK herself wrote this episode, I suppose we can hand-wave the apparation onto Hogwarts grounds by saying that was a rule Dumbledore set in place when he became headmaster. When he and Harry are going to the cave to get the (false) locket Horcrux, they apparate from Hogwarts because as Dumbledore said, being headmaster has its advantages. So perhaps there wasn’t a need to protect the students until after Voldemort rose to power.
I agree, this movie was a set up for the next one. I thought there were going to be three films but there are five in the works? And Newt bugs me sometimes with his shyness about making eye contact. I will say the boy they played Young Newt was spot on. Kudos to casting for that one.
I did read an article that this movie completely blew up McGonagall’s backstory. According to Pottermore, she wasn’t born until 1935 and she had a career at the Ministry and was even married before she came to Hogwarts. Not that I didn’t get a giggle over her rezipping the girl’s lip, but they could have had someone else make a cameo.
I really enjoyed it. It felt like more of a prequel than the first one with more direct connections to the people and stories we already know.
Seeing the early Lestrange family was interesting. Learning Nagini was once human (and good!) Is different but I am not sure if it was cool or just fan service. I’m still thinking on it.
Grin’s speech at the end was insidious. Of course he’s not evil. He is just saving the world from itself and we just have to excuse the baby killing as just the price of doing business. And having Queenie join them was a great dramatic choice.
I had read they were filming the next back to back. I hope that means it comes out next year because I am interested to see what happens.
Is Remayne playing Newt as being somewhere on the autism spectrum?
He clearly has trouble communicating, can be uncomfortable with eye contact and doesn’t really integrate into social situations.
That’s what I thought. He’s more comfortable around animals than people.
Is Nagini an animagus? They kept mentioning (obviously) that one day she would be stuck in snake form, so I wondered if she was under some sort of curse.
I guess we’re supposed to assume Leta is some sort of in-law to Bellatrix? I think her father had a couple of other children that are the ancestors of Bellatrix’s husband down the line. (That always bothered me about the books…her husband is introduced, then he just sort of drops off the pages.)
Nagini is introduced as a Maledictus, someone who can turn into some other form, both apparently at will, and from time to time, involuntarily. Eventually, she will be unable to return to human form, and will be a snake for the rest of her life.
There were rumors that the plan was for five movies before the first was even released.
I don’t know about you all but I think that the big reveal at the end of this one will turn out to be a massive red herring.
Yep - he’s being played.
Agreed. That was a massive scam if I’ve ever seen one.
I enjoyed the movie. Apparently among a portion of the fan base there is a to-do over Nagini. I like the backstory, but some see it as inappropriate somehow. There is also a dustup over the Dumbledore-Grindelwald relationship as not being explicit enough. (Were they or were they not?) 3 movies yet to go - I’m willing to wait and see.
Loved the movie!
My thoughts.
Expected something more about Bunty(?), Newt’s assistant that is head over heals for Newt (it seems every woman is!).
Grindewald is definitely lying to and manipulating Credence, his bloodline is unimportant, he’s just a very powerful wizard that can potentially help him take down Dumbledore.
I think it is being set up that Dumbledore is somehow responsible for Credence’s death (and that is why Nagini sides with Voldemort - because she loved Credence).
The dynamic of the blood pact is super interesting to me. Was Grindewald hanging on to it because he’s ultimately scared of Dumbledore? Or some other reason? And how will he act now that he has lost the blood pact (not knowing if its destroyed or not)?
Lots of good lines & moments in the movie.
I’m surprised to see it looks like I’m the only one so far who thought the movie was a hot mess, and a boring one at that. I was very disappointed in the muddled plot, the liberties they took with the canon (like putting McGonagall in when she wouldn’t have been old enough to be a professor), the general feeling of “let’s hunt down every loose end in the Harry Potter universe and dump it into the script!”, and the frustrating directions they went with some of the characters (particularly Queenie).
I also thought Johnny Depp was badly cast as Grindelwald, and I think the movie would have been better without him.
I actually nodded off twice near the beginning, and ended up having to leave for a couple of minutes (which I never do) to go get something from the concession stand to keep me and the spouse awake. He nodded off too.
So yeah, this one wasn’t a winner for me. Pretty to look at, but not a winner. And I’m a huge Harry Potter fan.
I agree with you about Johnny Depp. I think another choice would have been better. He didn’t over-act as much as he can, but he didn’t fit in with the rest of the cast. His Grindelwald is not someone I could see Dumbledore feeling such affection for.
It was one of those niggling things for me. Overall, I would still recommend the film.
You’re not alone: here’s what a slate.com review said
“Congratulations to Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald for being the first flat-out terrible product of the Harry Potter expanded universe.”
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald review: The worst Harry Potter movie ever.
Yeah, I saw some of the pretty scathing reviews. That’s why it surprised me so much that the Dopers so far have been universally approving of it.
re: credence being a Dumbledore. perhaps aberforth’s fascination with goats is a love story about a maledictus who was turning into a goat… and credence a product of that relationship? really, I do believe that gellart was having him on.
anyhoot. Minerva wasn’t born until 1935, so unless it was a relative that was a big miss.
I thought it a good set up movie.
It’s also a bit of a self-selecting group. Many of us who disliked the first one didn’t bother to see the second.
I think a lot of the hatred is because no one has patience anymore to let people tell stories. It reminds me a little of when Captain America “joined” Hydra in the comics. Yes it’s shocking but let them tell their freaking story first before you get all pissed.
The end of this movie seems to have pissed people off in a similar way. Jeez, let them tell their story first.