Wizarding World Win!
Directed by: David Yates
Written by: J.K. Rowling, Steve Kloves
Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Mads Mikkelsen, Jessica Williams, Callum Turner, Dan Fogler
If Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was the introductory film of the franchise, similar to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, I would say that The Crimes of Grindelwald was like Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It was confusing and not as good as the others. On the other hand, The Secrets of Dumbledore was on the level of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. There was so much going on, I really think it needs at least two viewings to fully appreciate everything that happens.
Newt Scamander (Redmayne), everyone’s favorite odd yet oddly adorable creature loving wizard is back. Gellert Grindelwald (Mikkelsen) is gaining power and followers fast. And thanks to a long-ago pact made between him and his lover, Albus Dumbledore (Law), Dumbledore is unable to make any moves against him. It’s up to Newt and his crew, which include his friend and no-maj/muggle Jacob Kowalski (Fogler), his brother Theseus Scamander (Turner), his assistant Bunty (Victoria Yeates), and newcomer Professor Eulalie ‘Lally’ Hicks (Williams) to save the day.
They come up with this great plan – to confuse Grindelwald. Unfortunately, this really didn’t go anywhere. I was really looking forward to the great confusing but aside from the reveal of the plan, I didn’t really see any execution of confusion. Or maybe I was confused…
Back to Grindelwald. If you thought Voldemort was bad, you haven’t seen anything yet. At first I was annoyed that Johnny Depp was unceremoniously fired and replaced with Mads Mikkelsen. Then Grindelwald started doing really nasty stuff, and I was glad I didn’t have to see the great Johnny Depp doing such horrible things.
Anyways, Grindelwald, along with Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller), Queenie Goldstein (Alison Sudol), Vinda Rosier (Poppy Corby-Tuech), among others, wreak havoc in Germany at various events related to the upcoming Wizarding election. He also tortures an innocent creature. I had to look away during that part, because it made me sad.
We learn more about the Dumbledore family as the gang spends time at the “Hog’s Head Inn,” owned by Albus’s brother Aberforth (Richard Coyle). If you recall, we learned some of the history of the Dumbledore family in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and it is expanded on in this film.
As this is a prequel, and we’ve all seen the Harry Potter series/read the books, we know that Dumbledore survives. This slightly lessens the impact of some of the battle scenes. They are still exciting though! Also, did anyone else notice that Dumbledore is always sending guys on missions for him? First Harry in the Harry Potter series and then Newt in the Fantastic Beasts series.
It was great to return to Hogwarts and hear that familiar Hogwarts theme (I don’t remember hearing it in the previous film). There were a few parallels and callbacks to other Harry Potter films in The Secrets of Dumbledore that I enjoyed as well. There were also a couple of bizarre yet hilarious moments involving, what else, fantastic beasts.
I loved this entry of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and I hope that you will too!
