“Fantastics Beasts and Where to Find Them” is a prequel to the Harry Potter series that gives it some background to some characters who are mentioned throughout the Harry Potter movies. The second movie in the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise is good, but the overall storyline is confusing. There were a few things in the movie that weren’t necessary.
The movie begins where the first one left off, almost. It is a few months after the end, but it is in the same timeline. “Crimes of Grindelwald” begins with Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) being held in an American wizard prison. During transport to Azkaban, the prison in the wizard world, he escapes and attempts to finish his quest to have the wizarding world ruled by pure blood wizards.
The movie is good but confusing. One thing that really confused me was how Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) fit in with what Grindelwald has done. It does not make a whole lot of sense to me other than him and his cute animals making another appearance. In the first film, it was all about Newt and his fantastic beasts that escaped in Paris. However, they are not relevant in the second movie because they don’t fit in with the main story line. Another plot hole that I noticed was the relationship of Credence (Ezra Miller) and Nigini (Claudia Kim) and how they play in with what Grindelwald has and is doing. Their relationship is unclear to the viewers. Throughout the movie, they are close. I don’t really know if they are just friends or they have an actual dating relationship or they are just two accomplices to Grindelwald. As in the first movie, Credence is still attempting to figure out who is family is. I see this relationship as unclear and irrelevant to “The Crimes of Grindelwald” story line. The last plot hole that I had a problem with was that Jacob (Dan Fogler) remembered everything, even after he was obliviated, or wiped of his memory, at the end of the first film. Jacob comes back as if nothing has happened and I am confused how he still remembers things that he should have forgotten about. As the movie as a whole was good, there were plot holes that I just didn’t agree with.
I do think that the actor/actress selection that was made was done very well. I think Depp plays bad guys very well and he played Grindelwald up to standards. I also think that the other characters were played by the right people, especially Credence. Miller has this weird and awkward demeanor to him; so does Credence in the films. So that was an all around good choice. I also liked the amount of action that was in the movie. So, even though there were some things that I didn’t like individually, I liked the movie as a whole. I do recommend this movie to any fan of Harry Potter or even any fan of the supernatural.