Beasts losing magic
This lazy Potterverse prequel-sequel knows how to keep up appearances
In 2014, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Aretha Franklin was asked what she thought of Adele and Alicia Keys, both of whom she labelled great, young singers. But when it came to Taylor Swift, the best she could muster was “great gowns, beautiful gowns.” It was a scathing four-word critique, and while The Crimes of Grindelwald, the second in the planned five-part Fantastic Beasts series, isn’t deserving of quite the same writeoff, it’s hard to say what exactly it does better than its $200-million visuals.
There’s no mistaking that if there’s one thing the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts franchises do best it’s a structured jacket. After all, it’s cold in the magical world, and one cannot trail-blaze without a sturdy peacoat or trench.
The pair donning the best are a heavily ginger-banged Eddie Redmayne ( back as Newt Scamander, the eccentric and aloof magizoologist) and Jude
Law (delightfully debuting as young Albus Dumbledore, with all the charm and wisdom of the headmaster we’ve long come to know).
The two devise a plan to fight dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald, who was arrested at the end of the first film by the Magical Congress of the United States of America. The film opens with Grindelwald’s masterful escape from a flying prison carriage, as he ventures off to create a master race of pure-blood wizards and witches to rule over the muggles (non-magical people) of the world.
In a controversial casting choice, Grindelwald is played by Johnny Depp, an actor deeply mired in his own troubles (ranging from debt to disastrous divorce) and who seems to have forgotten how to do the one thing he was always good at: act. Outfitted with spiky platinum hair (and equally icy brows and a moustache), a wonky eye and, yes, a fabulous coat and scarf to match, he’s a visual scare, lending reallife eccentricity to the wizard. But with his slurred drawl, the actor seems to be riffing off his recent iterations of Jack Sparrow, with flecks of Whitey Bulger tossed in. In fact, his portrayal and presence are so offbeat and comical, it’s distracting.
The same goes for Ezra Miller’s shrill performance as Credence Barebone, a melancholy young wizard who desperately wants to know his lineage. It doesn’t bode well that Grindelwald has his one good eye steadfastly focused on him, however.
While the beauty of the first Fantastic Beasts was found in watching Newt, auror Tina (Katherine Waterston, miserably underused here), her sister Queenie (Alison Sudol) and her muggle boyfriend Jacob (Dan Fogler) run around New York City together, The Crimes of Grindelwald is overstuffed with narrative and characters. Each time director David Yates and writer-turned-screenwriter J.K. Rowling run into a new character, the focus shifts and the plot gets lost. Instead of one location, we are transported between London and Paris, from one conspiring back street chat to another.
It’s an unfortunate followup to the world-building original, which was, for all intents and purposes, magical.
Oddly enough, for all the saturated elements of the movie, one of the story’s most hyped reveals — that Dumbledore had been in love with Grindelwald when the two were teenagers — is only touched upon. Dumbledore simply explains his refusal to fight the dark wizard by saying, “We were closer than brothers.”
While there is likely a narrative that has been mapped out by Rowling, it’s clear this sequel is filler, offering minuscule progress in plot and character development. However, the motivation for the franchise has always been fan service for a legion of readers who just wanted more from the Potter universe. The sequel is certainly rickety, but for fans of this world, it won’t matter.
It will be impossible not to feel a chill run down your spine when the opening bars of Hedwig ’s Theme play, or when the film transports us back to Hogwarts. Let’s just hope the stakes are heightened with the next instalment as we come ever closer to Dumbledore and Grindelwald facing off, because, even as a fan, one more lazy effort will be tough to forgive.