The Wizarding World is one of my favorite places to spend time in. I’ve been rewatching the HP movies as I go to sleep recently, and today I finally bought a Kindle, mostly so that I can reread the books when I eventually go on my much postponed trip to London. I have a Universal pass, specifically for going to Hogsmeade any time I feel like a Butter Beer, and I’m often spotted wearing my Ravenclaw sweater (that’s admittedly a size or two too big). All that is to say, that when it comes to these new films, I’m just happy to be in this world more than anything else.
Picking up not too long where we last left Newt Scamander and friends, Johnny Depp’s revealed baddie Grindelwald has escaped. He’s tracking down Ezra Miller’s Creedence, who in turn is trying to find out his true identity. Dumbledaaaammmmn, err, (relatively) young Dumbledore (Jude Law) enlists his old student Newt (Eddie Redmayne) to go after them. That’s about as much of the plot as I can confidently type out because it does get a little messy.
No, I couldn’t always follow it, and yes I feel like the screenplay could have been much cleaner. But I didn’t care too much about that. Again, just happy to be in this world, but more than that, happy to be spending some time with these characters.
As I was watching, I realized that Newt truly is one of JK Rowling’s best ever characters. He operates from a place of humility and compassion, all too rare qualities in heroes leading a film. Redmayne brings him to life with such grace. My favorite moments in the film were him interacting with his creatures. While in the first film, the real life Magical Pokemon Go portion may have felt unnecessary, I realized here that’s what gives the film its heart. He had one sequence with a giant Japanese water demon (I think I’m remembering what it was correctly) that I could just watch over and over. That made the movie for me.
And Dumbledore was also a treat to see. He is one of the most iconic characters in the entire franchise, and I love seeing this new perspective on him. Jude Law plays him to perfection. You can see twinkles of the old Headmaster we’ve loved, but with a new mystery to him.
The other characters I adore are Queenie and Jacob. While they may have seemed like filler last time, the main story has a really interesting way in playing out thru their relationship. I’m super excited to see where that goes.
In fact, I’m super excited to see where the whole franchise goes. Even if there were some story issues along the way, the last maybe 15 min or so had me on the edge of my seat, and I need the next film immediately. I’m desperate to know where these new revelations will take us.
Fantastic Beasts: THe Crimes of Grindelwald – \m/ \m/ \m/