Oh boy, where do I begin? I really don’t how to even do this review. I will start by saying that this is a spoiler review in case you haven’t seen the movie. Do a favor and don’t but if you really really want to watch it, good luck. Also, this is written by a person who watched the movies only. So if hate me for not reading the books, personally I don’t care so you can stop reading if you want. Now that’s out of the way and you have an open mind and want to read my thoughts then let’s do this. I will break this down to the things that were bad and good for the movie. Heads up, there was only one good thing in the movie and plenty of bad. Beware of Spoilers.
The Bad
- No need to watch the first movie because everything that happened was just your imagination. In other words, plot lines were conveniently solved just because. Remember when Jacob’s memories of magic were erased, well not anymore. Somehow he was able to remember because he is a special human. Um sure. Yes, Jacob is a beloved character and fans would love to see him again. But I would rather have a beloved character earn their comeback or just not show up. Jacob wasn’t really needed in this movie. If he was left alone in the first movie then that would have been okay. iIt happens. Another thing Credence is alive. Yeah, apparently that death didn’t take. Its okay for characters to die in a series of movies. Plenty of characters in the Harry Potter franchise died and served their purpose. The story shouldn’t be about Credence but instead, Grindelwald. Or that’s what I thought but the twist said otherwise.
- Too many characters mean too many storylines. Can you imagine if they made Game of Thrones as a movie instead of a TV Show? Talk about a trainwreck. Well, that’s this movie. In the previous movie, it seemed that the story was more focused and you can do that with not many characters. This one’s outline was a few characters dialogue, action, new characters dialogue, action, rinse and repeat. I left the theater complaining to my friends and asking them what was the plot? So many things were happening but nothing at the same time. It was, where is Credence, kill Credence but no save him to Credence figuring out where he is from, to oh no Grindelwald escaped, to Grindelwald trying to get followers, to Queenie wants to marry Jacob but can’t, Leta Lestrange is engaged to Newt’s brother but might have feelings for Newt, Newt has feelings for Tina, Tina thinks Newt is engaged to Leta, Leta might be related to Credence but is revealed she isn’t, a snake lady, a circus, sprinkle some magical beasts, Dumbledore won’t fight Grindelwald because feelings and Queenie joins Grindelwald army. Phew. The crazy part is that this is not all of it. Imagine watching 2 hours of this nonsense.
- One-dimensional characters. I’m sorry, I can’t care for characters or understand their decisions if they are one dimensional. The whole point is to relate to these characters but if you have too manycharacters going in different places, it’s hard to follow. Which causes the audience to try to fill in too many blanks which we shouldn’t have to. That’s not our job. That job belongs to the writers. When bad decisions are made by one-dimensional characters, it’s usually just to move the plot from point A to B. It should be understood why the hero or villain are making their decisions. Why did Grindelwald go to the dark side? What were his crimes? Why is Newt the hero? Honestly, it shouldn’t be his story we should be following but instead Tina or a different Auror. Hero vs villain duh, not guy who collects animals somehow is in the mix of things. This cast is talented and deserves to have better writing and direction. It’s unfortunate they don’t.
The Good
- The action. When the magical action was happening, that was the only few times I felt that the pay was worth it. I enjoyed feeling that I was in this world for a short time. I admit I was jealous that I didn’t have wand or casting spells. Life would be so much easier.
In conclusion, I was disappointed. I expected more and got blah. I don’t see this franchise having three more movies after this one. I see one more maybe two but three hell no. Fans don’t enjoy wasting money for crap no matter what franchise it is. The next movie I won’t even bother watching in theaters. I will stay at home. Stay tuned for part 2 of this review where I talk about what should have happened or what I’ve would have done instead.
Rating D
Photo courtesy Warner Brothers
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