Beastly sequel loses magic
FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Johnny Depp, Katherine Waterston, Jude Law, Zoe Kravitz, Ezra Miller These crimes do not pay enough
AFTER all those wonderful Harry Potter books and equally wonderful movie adaptations, it would be fair to say we all thought J.K. Rowling walked on water.
Now we are two movies into the author and screenwriter’s Potter-ish series project Fantastic Beasts, a new consensus is taking shape.
Rowling is treading water. Perhaps sinking in our estimations, even.
This is not to mark down the new Fantastic Beasts as a legitimate dud. Gorgeous period visuals and lavish production make it one of the best designed movies of 2018.
If you simply wish to lose yourself in a vivid, pre-Harry incarnation of the Potterverse, The Crimes of Grindelwald will do the trick.
But when it comes to conjuring true movie magic from hero Newt Scamander and his friends and foes, it struggles to cast a captivating spell for long.
And as sole screenwriter, Rowling must accept a fair whack of the blame.
The new movie has too many characters doing too much yapping. The garbled story doesn’t flow in any particular direction.
The plot plays out in the mid-to-late 1920s, but the action shifts from dark, drab New York to grey, gay Paris.
It is there the wicked Dark Wizard known as Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp, playing it relatively straight aside from overdoing the blond hair dye) has escaped from magic authorities to whip up a war against No-Majs.
It is the belief of those who oppose Grindelwald and the rising anti-human movement he is spearheading that only one man can stop him: his former close friend Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law).
Dumbledore makes sure the task goes to his favourite former student Scamander (Eddie Redmayne).
As in the first Fantastic Beasts adventure, Newt isn’t the most exciting character.
So considering the urgency of his task to get the better of Grindelwald and track down danger man Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller), do we need updates on his romantic inclinations? Not really.
The same goes for so-so sub-plotting that sends in a reserve team of goodies, baddies and beasties. Not to mention the shout-outs to stuff that will happen when Harry P is at Hogwart’s.