Reviewed by George Baker

Starring Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Johnny Depp and many, many… many more. The sequel to 2016’s ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ follows Newt Scamander on an epic quest to find his girlfriend in Paris. Meanwhile a political battle is brewing in our beloved wizarding world. Do we side with Grindelwald, the baby killing, manipulative convict, who also believes that #LoveWins, and that muggles and wizards can marry? Which I guess makes him a complicated villain. Or, do we side with the legendary, fan favourite, Albus Dumbledore? Hmm… Tough one.

Newt, played by Redmayne. The wonderfully autistic, interesting and unique lead character from the first film, is stuck in the UK by the ministry of magic due to his shenanigans in New York. We are introduced to his brother Theseus (Callum Turner) and his brothers fiancée Leta Lestrange (Zoe Kravitz), who is in love with Newt. We are also introduced to Newt’s assistant, who is also in love with him, she is never seen again. Dead possibly.

This kind of sums up Newts involvement in the film. Even when offered the chance to join Dumbledore’s army and go on an exciting quest (which would make perfect sense given his current, bored, situation) it’s his pining for Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterson) that gets him caught up in things. Making him a side character to the main event. But then you have to think about what the main event actually is. There are so many characters, love stories, plot twists and turns, that you’re taken on a ride that you didn’t particularly want to be taken on.

When it comes down to it, the film is about an impending battle between Dumbledore and Grindelwald. Two characters who have a handful of scenes each. Dumbledore (Jude Law) is as aloof and weird as ever. He brings us back to nostalgic places with nostalgic magical objects and his part in the film is great. Law’s representation of the icon is pretty spot on. With one scene in particular standing out not only as key to the fate of him, and his characters development into the Harry Potter timeline. But also, to the bond between him and his nemesis. One of the few moments in the film that actually adds a lot to the characters and plot.

Now onto Grindelwald, and the big ol’ elephant in the room, Johnny Depp. Given that a lot of trouble had to be gone to in order for him to be in this film, it probably wasn’t worth it. After the bone chilling, snake faced Voldemort, Depp’s, ‘dad who couldn’t let go of the punk era’ villain doesn’t quite cut the mustard. His views on the state of the wizarding society are interesting and questions are asked about the world that will excite fans of the franchise, and these things are intriguing about the villain’s motives. However, they are setting up for another movie and don’t really help this one.

Of course, the controversy surrounding Depp’s inclusion in the film is something that should be spoken about. Perhaps a film review isn’t the place to talk about societies problems with the treatment of women, but when you review this film with that thought in your mind, and consider that every female character is there to fancy the pants off of Newt, (I assume because of his perfectly floppy Hugh Grant inspired hair) you begin to realise that the entire thing doesn’t exactly scream female empowerment. Disappointing given that the writer is one of the most successful women of all time, who has previously given us the consistently epic Hermione Granger.

Overall, The Crimes of Grindelwald beats about the bush too much, despite having lovely moments scattered throughout it. The climactic finale is visually epic, but underneath that blue flamed layer of CGI the film falls short of its potential due to the overcomplicated plot that is driven by characters that are irrelevant. All we can do is hope that the inevitable sequel focuses on what worked in this film. Ezra Miller’s Credence, Jude Law’s Dumbledore and his relationship with Grindelwald (which may or may not be played by Johnny Depp), and the shots of nostalgia that reminded us of a time when witches and wizards were cute metaphors about hitting puberty and the hardships of going to school.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald opens in the UK on 16^th November 2018.