![]() ![]() Tina’s pleasingly ditzy sister, Queenie ( Alison Sudol), who’s a mind-reader, is back with her lovable lug of a Muggle boyfriend, Jacob ( Dan Fogler), ostensibly to help however they can but also to provide some much-needed levity. But Tina is apprehensive about getting involved with Newt because she suspects he’s still in love with his childhood classmate Leta Lestrange ( Zoe Kravitz), who’s engaged to marry Newt’s brother, Theseus ( Callum Turner), who’s an official with the Ministry of Magic.īut wait, there’s more. ![]() Newt also has a would-be romance of his own going with the sweet but skittish auror Tina Goldstein ( Katherine Waterston, reprising her mousy role). Rowling has indicated previously that Dumbledore is gay, and the suggested connection with Grindelwald expands on that intriguing notion, but the script frustratingly shies away from delving much further into their possible romance. Newt must take time away from his many cuddly and crawly critters to track down Grindelwald at the request of Hogwarts headmaster Dumbledore ( Jude Law), who can’t do it himself because he had an enjoyed too intimate a relationship in his youth with this now-evil magician. Depp, however, dials down the whimsical weirdness that marks so much of his work, especially with Tim Burton, and instead finds a stillness and a resonant, villainous depth to his voice. As if the chilling nature of his intentions (and their significance both historically and in the present day) weren’t clear enough, we’re treated later on to the sight of trains, massive blazes and piles of ashes as a terrifying harbinger of what’s to come. (This opening sequence is one of the highlights, and it moves with an urgency that the film rarely achieves afterward.) His intention is to gather all the pureblooded wizards from around the world to rise up, take over and rule the non-magical people – No-Majs, as they’re known in America, or Muggles, as they’re called in the British Potterverse. The film begins with the dreaded dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (a frosty Johnny Depp, returning from the end of the previous installment) staging a daring prison escape while being transferred from the United States to England on a dark and stormy night. This time, he has his work cut out for him more than ever. Although he’s got magic at his fingertips himself, he’s meant to be our conduit into this complicated world. As Newt Scamander, magizoologist and author of the titular (and fictional) “Fantastic Beasts” tome, Redmayne is all flitty and mumbly, a shtick that’s more distracting than endearing. And the perennially twitchy, mannered Eddie Redmayne at the center of these films does not provide the most stable, powerful anchor. ![]() Hearing names like Lestrange and paying brief visits to Hogwarts to see a young, dashing Albus Dumbledore can only go so far to rekindle the original magic. This one, by comparison, is about too much, resulting in storytelling that’s more of a slog than a thrill. “The Crimes of Grindelwald” is about much more than its predecessor, which was tethered to the fundamental narrative necessities of world building and perhaps relied too heavily on its weird and wonderful creatures to provide the audience with the sensation of being transported, but that's not a good thing. There’s indeed magic to be found here, as well as visual wonder, but there’s also an unwieldy amount of character and plot. But it’s almost as if Rowling wants to cram in too much, and no one is willing to suggest reining in that instinct. This is perplexing, given that Rowling herself has written the screenplays for both the original “ Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” from 2016 and now its follow-up, “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.” David Yates, who directed the last four movies in the “Harry Potter” series, is the director of these films, as well. ![]()
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