FILM OF THE WEEK
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald Cert: 12A; Now showing
Thanks in large part to director Christopher Nolan, the 12A cert now appears to be the realm of darkness and foreboding, a place where primary colours and tomfoolery are discouraged so sharp cheekbones and brooding frowns can prevail.
When Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them arrived two years ago, it was welcomed with open arms — a Harry Potter spinoff where the hero was not only played by a trained actor (Eddie Redmayne) but also actually used his wizarding skills to get out of pickles.
It had a light, caper-ish feel, and though it featured a troubled antagonist grappling with dangerous powers, Redmayne’s bashful smile and its cast of silly creatures rounded-off any sharp edges.
And now, this sequel has undone much of that good work. Over a yawnsome 130 minutes, we find ourselves back in the same kind of sullen, grey-hued, bellicose pomposity that the Harry Potter series itself descended into.
Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) has escaped prison and wants his legions of pure-blood wizard followers to rule the world.
Newt (Eddie Redmayne) is assigned to help stop him by old Hogwarts tutor Dumbledore (Jude Law). He reunites with Tina (Katherine Waterston) and Joe (Dan Fogler).
One or two fun rabbits are pulled out of hats, and the great
‘The 12A cert now appears to be the realm of darkness and foreboding’
Olwen Fouere makes a cameo.
Otherwise, this is a dour, swollen, and worst of all, boring slog that just feels like any other crumby post-Lord of The Rings sorcery epic that values franchise building above closing narrative circles.