Review: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

Newt Scamander and the gang return with new characters, new beasts both great and small, and several plot strands in the admittedly impressive but overstuffed spectacle that is Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.

Though dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) is public enemy number one after staging an excitingly executed escape from the Magical Congress of the United States of America, the film is not necessarily about his crimes but rather serves as table setting for future crimes that he will surely commit in the name of bringing about a new Wizarding World Order wherein pure-blood wizards rule over mixed-blood wizard and Muggles aka humans. The key to his victory somehow lies with Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller), the abused adopted young man last seen unleashing havoc upon Manhattan in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Apparently surviving his demise at the end of that film, Credence has absconded to Paris in the hopes of tracking down his biological mother and at last discovering his true identity and origin.

Grindelwald is not the only person in keen pursuit of Credence. Newt, who has been banned from international travel as a result of the goings-on in the first film, has been reluctantly called into action by Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law), who wants to keep Credence safe and out of Grindelwald's clutches. There's history between Dumbledore and Grindelwald - "We were closer than brothers," he says with more than a hint of wistfulness - but neither is willing to move against the other though they firmly stand on opposite sides of the wizarding conflict. It should be said at this point that Law is a wholly welcome presence here, lending a potent mix of debonair charm, easygoing mischief, and palpable regret that convincingly connects to Michael Gambon's incarnation of the older Dumbledore.

Meanwhile, there are other developments slowly afoot. Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston) is also in Paris tracking Credence's whereabouts. Newt's heart still belongs to her, though his heart is also stirred by Leta Lestrange (a thoroughly bewitching and haunting Zoë Kravitz), his childhood crush now affianced to his older brother Theseus (Callum Turner), with whom Newt shares a tentative relationship. In other matters of the heart, Tina's vivacious sister Queenie (Alison Sudol) despairs over Muggle beau Jacob's (Dan Fogler) unwillingness to commit; it's not for lack of love but relationships between humans and those with magical abilities are strictly forbidden.

There's a great deal to digest in The Crimes of Grindelwald, the first script solely credited to J.K. Rowling. Purists will take note of some retconning as well as some foundational groundwork that may either thrill those interested at the connections to the Potterverse or groan at the sometimes effortful connective tissue. The film could have considerably benefited from some pruning as scenes either run in place, expository or repetitive (how may times do we need to hear that Credence is pivotal to Grindelwald's master plan?). It might also have done better to cast someone else as Grindelwald for Depp's performance topples into been there, done that territory.

The camera is a restless soul, twisting, turning and swooping about, though it can hardly be faulted as one could easily become inebriated from the lush garden of visual delights that this film has to offer. Whether it be the detail of the tweed of Newt's coat, the rich and intoxicating plum colour of Leta's satin dress, the lapels of another outfit that recall the design of the Chrysler Building, the onyx brushed brick walls of the British Ministry of Magic, or the quill in the background transcribing the notes of a meeting, there is always something to catch the eye. The beasts continue to entertain, whether it be returning creatures like Niffler, the platypus-like troublemaker, or Zouwu, the Chinese New Year's Parade puppet come to life whose fearsomeness is hilariously becalmed by shiny objects.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

Directed by: David Yates

Written by: J.K. Rowling; based on characters created by J.K. Rowling

Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Jude Law, Johnny Depp, Zoë Kravitz, Carmen Ejogo, Claudia Kim, Callum Turner, Victoria Yeates, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Jessica Williams, Poppy Corby-Tuech, William Nadylam, Brontis Jodorowsky