I agree 100% about Dumbledore needing more screen time. Jude Law played the character perfectly and you could really see how he would over time grow into the Dumbledore in HP 3-8.
I agree , writing a screenplay is so different than a a book that's why harry potter films were good because jk rowling didn't involve in the writing process.
This movie could have been saved if she wrote it as a book first, then hire a screenwriter to help her with this movie. She thinks too highly of her own writing skill. Just because someone is good at writing books doesn't mean they can write a good movie.
@@darrelsam419 She's gone the Anne Rice route of thinking her writing is perfect therefore she doesn't need an editor. Anne Rice's writing had a sharp decline when she fired her editor, and JK Rowling's writing took a sharp decline when she has to mash a whole book's worth of plot into a 2 hour film
They have a decent foundation in the first film; they should have developed the main quartet (newt, tina, jacob, queenie) and flesh out their character more. The dumbledore and grindelwald story line is fine, and lol all the others character could be swept away since they're all so unnecessary.
Develope? They DID. That was what P1 did. They served up the the Core peeps. However I would say that the "other characters" are just as relevant as the core. Nowadays viewers are less and less connected with thick plot. That is not a misstep by the writer but a indictment of the viewers ability to keep up. Soooo sorry it isn't a 15 minute cartoon, and that's with commercials. Or a meme in a your next face book surf.
@@liampatrick3110 yes. Depp had great movies in the 90's. Now most of his characters are just goofy af. Compared to that Colin had better performances & movies like in bruge, the lobster, the gentlemen etc
I'm sure she'll yell at everyone on Twitter who says it this time around too. I miss the old Rowling. I think the money's gone to her head and she's lost the artist side of herself.
It’s her story at the end of the day and she made it. If she wants to add things she definitely should. It’s not my right or yours or anyone’s to tell her not to do with her creation whatever she pleases.
Kinda like what i would like Star wars to do...i'm grateful for the competent Filmmaking...But like Chris said on sardonicast,i would like unconnected stories.
I thought the best scenes in this film were the flashbacks at Hogwarts. I'm not just saying that because of nostalgia, that's where I was most invested. All of the Dumbledore scenes were really good, and I do really like Newt. But I feel like we didn't get to see so many important moments. We just haven't spent enough time with these characters. There was way too much going on and yet not much going on at the same time, which is what makes the film seem boring. It's just hard to get invested right now, I really want to see Chris do a spoiler review on it.
1/10 Garbage movie with a fuck ton of retcons and fuck JK Rowling for saying those ridiculous statements about the characters in her books. She literally doesn’t care anymore and also she is just ashamed over the fact that she wrote a series of books that only includes white and straight people.
It’s like she has no clue about her own source material anymore because the movie keeps breaking the Harry Potter canon constantly. Also there is no reason why this movie should exist. This movie is so fucking bad that I can’t even believe that it was made.
In classic fashion though, there will be a sequel where they give us loads of fantastic beasts but then the critics will say there was no character development but in this movie there was so Much character development but NO GODDAMN FANTASTIC BEASTS!!! The first one struck a balance Why can’t they do it again!!!
The fact that Jacob could remember what happened was bullshit. He says that the good memories of magic remained and he remembered everything. That means that there must be dozens or more people in the city that remember everything still because finding out that magic is real would not be a bad memory to most people. Therefore TONS of muggles are just boppin about knowing what happened?
Jacob was pretty much the only muggle having a good experience with magic in the first film... The rest would probably only associate it with fear and terror...
The others saw destruction and terror and why would they relate it to magic? If i saw explosion the first thing i would think about are bombs. Maybe some even remember bits about the bird but probably too afraid to even consider it real and just thinking it was a dream
@@666m111 I propose you to watch 1 again, because it was clearly stated that he remembers and why. I wasn't surprised at all that Jacob showed in 2, as it was not even hinted - we saw him remembering in first movie!
I think that’s the thing that baffles me most about all of this. There is SO much they could have done so many interesting stories to tell and yet here we are
@@jennb3112 I guess they wanted a new franchise for children with "fantastic beasts" that gets more serious as the supposed fans grow up with it. But the problem is, it doesn't and won't have any fans to grow up.
Yeah, or maybe just tell the story from different points of view as a sort of anthology series. Regardless, let the first one just be Newt Scamander's relatively lighthearted story where he unexpectedly intersects with Grindelwald, and move on. Have the next one focus on Dumbledore and his relationship with Grindelwald. If there's more material to mine out of that story line, sure stay with Dumbledore. But it feels really weird to me that Newt Scamander and the "Fantastic Beasts" name is getting shoved into a larger narrative about the rise of Grindelwald. It feels nakedly motivated by a desire to establish an new brand in the Harry Potter universe, and it just makes for a weird and unfocused story.
They need to switch the director to give a new wind in the franchise. Also have someone else convert JK's ideas to film format. It felt like she wrote the script for a book and not a movie. A series would ge better with how JK is writing the script.
This movie really showed that J.K. Rowling doesn't know how to write a good screenplay. There were several moments in the movie where I felt like things happened or characters showed up simply because they were in the book that the movie is based off of, but then I remembered there is no book to explain any of that confusing stuff.
@@judaychop That is literally Yates's m.o. He thinks he's an Fantasy Epic Film Director when really he's a Heady Drama Film Director. Maybe if he approached the film as a heady drama, he would be more successful, unfortunately, he continues to try to be bigger than he is. He shouldn't have ever been allowed to do HP 6, much less continue the franchise with Fantastic Beasts.
@@JNeedleVidsI am sorry, I don't want to quarrel with you but George Lucas made prequels because people wanted him to make them for a very long time. He was always hesitant about it. And prequels had to be trilogy because you couldn't tell anakins whole story in one film. The fact that first two are bad is another story. You know what was made only for money? Hobbit? You could easily tell the story in 3hours long movie but they made trilogy out of it for no reason but money. George is actually a nice guy and it really hurt him when after all those years people were begging him to make prequels they started shitting on him and making fun of him. He knew exactly what he wanted to tell and he told it. I appreciate prequels for that, even though they are mostly disappointment. And don't forget that after selling SW to Disney, which he did because he wanted the franchise to continue but was to resistant to do it himself...he donated 70% of money he got from Disney to charities. Also he doesn't have any money from new movies now. Please, don't shit on him, he is truly nice guy compared to others
Void Darkness I mean its kind of true. Normally I would say an artists politics, is their own business. But its hard to ignore, when an artist directly injects it into their work, to the point that it affects the actual plot. Even that wouldnt be an issue, if the writing was well done. But there have been so many times, where JK Rowling cared more about her social political stance, that she was willing to cram it into a plot point, even if it wasnt earned. Even if it weakened it. Even worse, is that JK has a history of retconning past plot, in favor of pushing her social political views. Like I said, if an artist wants their work to be political, thats fine. You can even disagree strongly with it, but if the writing is really great, then it speaks for itself. For the record, I liked the first Fantastic Beasts. Altho there was definitely some eye rolling moments because of what I said above. But I think the characters and the world building carried the film.
Two words: COLIN FARRELL. To be honest, I would not have enjoyed Fantastic Beasts as much as I had had Colin Farrell not been in it. He brought such a menace and gravitas to the role, it elevated the stakes to such a level. It would've been great is the character of Percival Graves had been a secondary antagonist rather than Grindewald himself, just so we could get an excuse to see more of that tension. *sighs*
Fuck yeah. Why the hell did they settle with Depp though? Whether or not he assaulted Amber Heard, Grindelwald should have been Colin Farrell. The guy is a menacing presence.
I literally laughed when Johnny Depp was revealed in that movie. He looked so utterly ridiculous, though to be fair, it's not his fault that the make-up artists made him look like an albino walrus lol. But yeah, they shoulda stuck with Colin Farrel regardless. I felt like he was the only good actor in the movie, minus Jacob Kawolski, who was pretty good too.
@@elliemoon88 I very audibly laughed too. It was just absurd. 10 years ago, I would have expected Johnny Depp to turn up in ridiculous makeup in practically any movie. But I really thought we were past that.
I saw the movie yesterday and I have no idea why Steve Kloves and David Yates didn't tell JK that the screenplay for this was just garbage. I am a huge Potterhead and I kind of think I see where Rowling is going with that big "reveal" at the end, and it might be genius, but most of the movie just feels unnecessary
RENEHIKO I know... Yates is a great director, when he’s given good material. He did the best with what he had, but this movie’s subpar quality is due to JK Rowling, as she is taking everything that people loved in the first film and making it bland and boring. The Thestral Chase and the end twist were pretty cool, but this is a movie that doesn’t know its place. What “crimes” did Grindelwald commit in this movie? Like 5 and they’re all typical villain things
@@christianschmidt8476 And that's Rowling's fault who wrote Dumbledore and Grindelwald into a bland character while Jude Law and Johnny Depp did their best with the material they were given
I had hoped Grindewald's crime would involve an unknown beast (maybe Nagini?) which will make Newt want to investigate. There weren't enough fantastic beasts in the movie.
Not only was the script a massive problem, but even the directing felt off from Yates's usual level of talent. So many awkward close-up shots, especially near the start, with people just staring into the camera as if they're in the trailer for a Barry Jenkins movie. Plus one distracting shot in a classroom with Zoe Kravitz that does away with the beautiful steady cam shots of the rest of the movie in favour of shaky handheld. A very specific complaint, I know, but still...
The scene with Leta's bogart and the flashback of her brothers death was so haunting, and really beautifully shot. But moments like that were pretty few and far between for me in this film. Was anyone else thrown off by the constant POV shots? The cinematography and production design was just gorgeous, but in terms of filmmaking, this is easily David Yates worst one so far. All of his previous Harry Potter films were so well made, including the first Fantastic Beasts. But I had a lot more issues with the filmmaking in this one than I was expecting. I think it's time to see a new director step in for this series. Obviously the script has major issues, but I cant say the movie was that well directed either.
I consider myself a MASSIVE fan and I have to kind of agree. While I found a lot of enjoyment in the film myself I was annoyed by the big twist, and unlike Fantastic Beasts I would not recommend this movie to my friends or non hp fans. Its really quite disappointing considering how great fantastic beasts was. Thanks for a great review Chris.
@@m.o.485 do u know that crimes of grindelwald is fantastic Beasts. Fantastic beasts the crimes of grindelwald is the best movie ever and wizarding world is the best franchise
Chris I believe what happened with this movie is that it had too much and, personally, something that should be avoided. I mean, I don't think there was anything to tell. Not much depth. I call it the Spider-Man 3 syndrome: too many characters and sub-plots. And I would have preferred a single spin-off story about Grindelwald and his motivations.
Funnily enough. I rewatchd spiderman 3 recently. I went in it remembering not liking it and everyone tends to say it's bad but honestly. It's quite good. And in many ways has more heart than many of the super heroes coming out today. It's a little unfocused but definently not a movie that doesn't have substance.
You have as many characters and subplots in Heat or in Dark Knight and it works perfectly while taking only 10 or 15 minutes more...this movie could be cut to hour and half and you wouldnt miss anything. The problem is with her incapability to adapt book into screenplay...It is completely different kind of writing. As if you said you could do a symphony for orchestra because you can write a song with guitars and drums.
I have mixed feeling about this movie. The first one was better. -The storyline was extremely weak. The first act with Newt and his animals was interesting, but the second act was dragging the storyline. The story only built up with conflict and more conflict without a proper climax in the movie. -Leta’s storyline was full of plot holes and mostly dragging the movie. There is a scene which includes her talking for the entire scene which I felt it was kind of unnecessary and makes you roll your eyes and go ‘uhh, can we move on to next part now?’ I liked Zoe’s acting, but it’s just David Yate’s poor storytelling skills. -There were a lot of UNNECESSARY SUPPORTING CHARACTERS. Like seriously, the movie could have been 100% fine without them. -The title 'Fantastic beasts’ sounds like an mere excuse. -Nagini and McGonagall were useless. Fanservice. -I hate Grindelwald makeup. He looks like a weirdo out of a Tim Burton movie here. -Dumbledore with Muggles clothes? No. -The twist in the last scene left me...speechless. What is it, Cursed Child?
Ok, I agree about Nagini. With McGonagall though, why couldn’t it have been her? There was no reason to introduce a random nameless character to show up for five minutes when they could include her for that little bit of fan service. As for that ending “twist” three simple google searches blow it entirely out of the water
Oh boy. Sadly, I agree 100%. I grew up with Harry Potter movies and I love them to bits. Nostalgia goggles are a thing, sure, but you'll have to forget and forgive so much about this movie in order to actually like it, nostalgia isn't going to be enough. It's the first time I'm sad and disappointed about a Harry Potter movie and the taste it left in my mouth is just getting worse the more I think about it. If it wasn't for some charming moments in this it would have been hard to keep on watching. And the big reveal.. Let's just say JK did some 'Cursed Child' level of shit. And on top of all of this it felt like a filler movie. Let's hope they'll give as a decent third movie because I'm starting to lose faith in this franchise and it breaks my freaking heart.
Voldemort was scary because he was barely human and incredibly dangerous with a wand.. grindelwald is also incredibly dangerous with a wand but is a master manipulator. They showed how he is always 100% calm in any situation and can persuade/manipulate people into following him with utter ease. That's what makes grindelwald so terrifying. He's a completely fresh and different villain to voldemort
And still, even if on paper he is terrifying because of his persuasive nature and powerful abilities, in the movie he didn't seem to have much relevance beyond "being the villain". He just talked and talked, and talked. He does not feel like the constant threat Voldemort used to be.
the fact that most of his followers didn't see what he did at the end of the movie makes him feel like a cult leader type of manipulator. in this respect i could see why he is extremely dangerous besides being very powerful as a wizard.
@@OhSo_Bear depends how people see fear. If you're afraid of someone with a scary face and incredible power with no conscience then voldemort will be better or if you fear someone with incredible power and the ability to manipulate so he gets whatever he wants whenever he wants then grindelwald is going to be a scarier villain
As a huge Harry Potter fan, I really enjoyed this movie, but it has problems, that Chris talked about. In the end, not the best movie in the franchise, but still very enjoyable and I accually liked that the movie was slow and that it took everything so EPIC!!!! B-
the trailer for this movie was insane and made Grindelwald a badass. But once you watch the movie you can cringe at how badly they wrote him into the plot
His "persuasion" was total bullshit and lame. It generally went along the lines of, Grindelwald murmuring, "You know you want to join me..." Person that seemed like a good, nice person throughout the movie: "No! I don't! Go away!" "You know you want to join... it's your destiny...." "aaahhh... okay maybe I'll join you"
I haven't seen this and after quite a few reviews saying the same thing I don't think I will. I get the feeling that maybe this fantastic beasts series would have been better as a book rather than a movie especially with all the subplots and characters in it. There's only so much you can do in a 2-3 hour movie. And you know I actually liked how Harry Potter ended. I don't think we needed a huge backstory on dumbledore and grindelwald. We're given hints and told how this battle was epic between them and you know maybe they should've left that in our imaginations. Sometimes the magic is in keeping things quiet. Sometimes you don't need to know every last detail. I'll stick to my Harry Potter books and leave the rest of this series here.
I couldn't agree more. I wish it weren't the case, but I think it's Rowling lacking in screenwriting ability. The films feel like a novelist wrote the script and tried to get a books worth of detail and character into the story. There just isn't enough time in a 2 and a half hour film. It honestly feels similar to the Star Wars prequels. Some great ideas, terrible writing, and everyone afraid to challenge George Lucas.
someone sounds like a Star Wars fanboy. Give it a chance with the perspective that this is a setup movie. Ya get to see some amazing sets, new creatures, and places we’ve never seen in the Wizarding World. Plus Newt is precious as usual.
@@shayvandy4981 I don't know if I'd say I'm a fanboy, but I love the Star Wars films. I don't obsess over them. But it's easy to see a comparison between Rowlings role in this series and Lucas' role in Star Wars. And I would accept this as a set up movie, but then what was the first one? Are there now two set up films in this five film series? The visuals and creatures we're great, but the story was lacking and overly convoluted.
I really do no blame Johnny Depp for this movie. JK Rowling is a great author of novels but is a bad screen writer. She dumped so much info, it is very hard to appreciate the end of the movie
@@1rjona I like Johnny Depp but he was really boring and not memorable. The movie has to much useless plot and a filler for the next film. I was really angry watching this as a huge HP fan.
@@rayray117 Yes, but why was he boring and not memorable? Could it be the lines he was given? Because the plot did not make sense. For this you need to blame screenwriter, who is JK Rowling. I really wished she just made another novel
I hated the fact that: Leta dies (along with her convoluted plot with Yusuf Kama) Queenie goes insane and Tina doesn't react Nagini was useless Grindelwald and Dumbledore weren't gay (or shown to be intimate with eachother) The Philospher Stone was never used Credence is actually Aurelius Dumbledore The main quartet (Newt, Tina, Jacob and Queenie) were very underwhelming and less character driven
Yeah I thought what's up with Queenie? She's total nuts in this movie suddenly. Credence might be the child of the 3 muggles raping Ariana, and he might be carrying her Obscurus which would be GENIUS if that's what Grindelwald meant with "your brother wants to kill you" (he was not speaking to Credence but to Ariana) but still, agree to all of what you wrote
J. K. Rowling created this amazing universe. Ok. Fair enough. But in term of movies and screenplay, she should stay away. This review is just sad, honestly. But I will go see the movie anyway.
I'm fine if she writes the basic story but leave the screenplay to the professionals. Stay along for the ride. Give and reject ideas as a producer, but leave the writing to an actual screenwriter.
I agree....she is amazing writer...From Harry Potter to Strike books, I love her style and the way she explores the story. But that is something very different than writing screenplay. In book you have as many pages as you want but in script you are limited. No one wants to see the movie that has 3 hours. So you have to make cuts in characters and story. She simply can't do that and many others cannot either. Book adaptations are very difficult and the longer book(or story) is the more difficult it is to adapt it. I write screenplays but I would never even dare to write a book, because you have to have different kind of tools and there is nothing wrong about that.
Also, I believe she might be able to write a great script, but in order to do that she would have to be limited to only one or two films...when you know you can make 5 films and still make a shit ton of money, you don't care how weak the story is...you have three more movies to tell a simple story that could be told in two films and it would be amazing(fast pace, less and only important characters, etc)
Shes an incredibly limited writer, when you compare her writing in books and film to that of say...George RR Martin, who has a plan for a story and doesnt keep writing things up as he goes thru the years unlike Rowling, you really see it, George has written many of the episodes of Game of thrones himself and the dialogue and pacing, and everything is absolutely perfection, Rowling just doesnt know how to write a movie and everyone is too scared at this point to say anything back to her, it's like how no one wanted to call George Lucas out for the god awful script for the prequels ,rather sad actually because she had a creative vision and she created an amazing and iconic world that I loved as a kid and she is just tearing it down herself
The thing I liked about the first Fantastic Beasts movie was getting to know the characters so intimately, and the promise of knowing them even better in the future. It was interesting because with the Potter books/movies, we saw the characters grow up, but with Fantastic Beasts, they were adults already; we had no idea what their lives had been up to this point. I loved getting to know Newt as the awkward, gentle hero, and Tina as the bolder, defensive rule-following heroine (who is a bit awkward herself). Then there was the delightful Jacob, Queenie, Credence, Graves/Grindelwald (who was far more intriguing as Graves), and others. Then, in Crimes of Grindelwald (which I saw only once, and forgot most of the plot immediately), they just sort of stop. Sure, we get a little background about Newt and others from the flashbacks. But somehow they took these lovely characters from the first movie and made me stop caring about them. Tina’s mad at Newt because of a stupidly-contrived misunderstanding? They hardly talk to each other in the movie, but when Newt does talk it’s...poetic? (Actually, it’s a ridiculous and improbable mix of awkward and poetic.) Jacob is back (yes!), but with no buildup? Theseus and Leta, neither of whom we’ve met yet, are suddenly engaged? What’s up with Credence exactly? And don’t get me started on Queenie. As for the plot, I don’t understand how a movie with so much seemingly happening at once can also feel like filler. The characters barely interacted, and when they did it was disappointing. The “twists” and sad moments were so strange that I hardly cared about them (and I WANTED to care!). All in all, as a huge Harry Potter fan, I was hugely disappointed. I can only hope that whatever went so terribly wrong will be fixed in the next movie.
Pegasus 1127 And I suppose WB had no say in stretching this franchise into 5 movies at least? Besides this is hardly the first time a franchise has suffered under their guidance *cough* DC *cough*
Peter Wilson wb has rights over dc. They can do whatever they want. Harry Potter on the other hand is owned by Rowling. She has made a contract with them.. She tells the stories n even the casting decision i guess and wb does the movies.. So stretching into 5 or 10 is her idea.
MCU's not on that list (for the majority, it got the best entries this year). Deadpool 2 was fantastic for X-Men too. Sadly, Venom prevented 2018 from being a near-perfect movie year for Marvel. There's also a chance for Aquaman to be the best DCEU movie (that is if DCEU is a beloved franchise at all).
Bulg Arin You're quite in the minority since it has an IMDB score of 7.4/10, RT critics score of 88%, RT audience score of 80% and Metacritic score of 70%. Quite damn good. But if you hate it, then that's fine. Still, doesn't mean it sucks just because you don't like it.
To me it's just a transition movie to guide us to the third movie, it showed us how Grindelwald managed to get Credence to believe him so that he could bring Credence with him as a future weapon :) I liked it and the different plots worked quite together to bring us to the end of the movie. I didn't find it confusing or boring at all!
The reason I enjoyed Half Blood Prince was the slower pacing, but that's more my tastes. I'm one of the few people that has issue with Azkaban, so that works against my popularity. I think Deathly Hallows part one should have taken note, and made the first part majorly about the side-characters dealing with what's going on, before bouncing back the leads with the second half. The first instead was overlong, and the second was mindless. I did however, after coming back from it last night, thoroughly enjoy Fantastic Beasts 2. I wasn't huge on the first instalment, but don't get the angst directed against Crimes Of Grindelwald. I didn't have issues following any of the plot, and didn't feel bored. There were some minor issues I had, but when it came to JK retconning the lore of the books and movies, I still didn't take issue. I believe for this particular kind of prequel to work, it needs to separate itself (something the first really struggled to do) from the universe, and if changing stuff is the way to go about it, I don't really mind. I'm not a purist though.
This review has literally summed up every feeling I had. I couldn’t put it into words and your review did it. I am a huge Harry Potter fan and I am the same as your wife, I can quote random facts no problem. There were moments in the movie I had no idea what was going on. There were a lot of things I liked, but the screenplay was the biggest problem for me.
@Stereo Typist yeah man, everything has to suck to these bastards but things from back in the 90's and 2000's is masterpiece, fuck off 2010's >>>>>>>>>>>>90's
i honestly thought the first fantastic beast is ok.. but hearing the second one being this disappointing i guess ill just skip and just go watch overlord instead :)
Just picked it up at Redbox. Wife fell asleep in 20 min, I started playing switch and hour in then still it went on... I never truly understood what was going on....... not anyone's intentions good guys or bad guys.... who the fuck are the characters and why am I supposed to care other then the cast from the first film
Completley agree with everything you said . I also found the film boring and confusing at times and massively disappointing even though I did enjoy some moments and characters. Fantastic review!
I told myself if I watch it I'll wait for it to be on HBO, just watched Crimes of Grindelwald and yeah it pretty much sucks. There's just really no one to cheer for or really care about, the plot is vague and feels rushed, waaaaaay to much CGI. You can tell that J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers gave it their all & put their heart & soul into the Harry Potter movies. I've watched them over & over again, I still enjoy them... especially Azkaban. Fantastic Beasts feels rushed, no heart and while you see it that feeling of wonder & magic is just not there. Tip to Hollywood and other studios, despite what you think, not everything needs a prequel.
I absoultely loved the film and saw it 3 times over the corse of it's opening weekend...mostly to make sense of all that's going on. I see this addition as a stepping-stone of sorts for the next films, so I have faith that Rowling knows the story she wants to pan out over these films, and things will be cleared up in the next 3 installments. I'm just so excited about the plot twist.
YES I completely agree! Cannot believe that Rowling herself wrote the film, but it is utter trash. I love the characters too but some of them did not even have to be in this film and it would not have made a difference (e.g. Nagini, which is disappointing but not surprised). There was way too much exposition, that plot twist was utter TRASH. I liked the first plot twist (new character one), but the one right at the end was just stupid and I completely despise it. It was a plot twist for the sake of a plot twist. However, I really love Newt as a character, he is unique and a different kind of main hero that is really enjoyable to watch. He actually grows in this film and that was the only thing I truly enjoyed about this movie, that is what they should have kept the movie as in my opinion. I also enjoy the Lestrange story until it decided to go all plot twist on us. Depp did decent enough, mainly because he didn't do a Depp and act all weird and annoying.
I disagree with your review I actually liked this film I don't understand all of the hate for this movie at all, I liked how Johnny Depp made his escape from prison and I think he added a ton of new things to the character that I really liked, I'm not much of a Harry Potter fanatic but I do enjoy this movie and the first one that just my overall opinion
I was thoroughly entertained by the movie as a whole, though I can definitely understand what people say when it was confusing at times and maybe even convoluted. For me and with the help of my other half pointing it out, I think this movie established that Grindelwald is the most dangerous dark wizard of all time. What I mean is that while he just seems like a villain and not a whole lot more, he can bring people to his cause just by talking to them, telling them what they want to hear and holding out a hand of friendship. Unlike Voldemort who used fear and intimidation to gain follows, Grindelwald appeals to his followers with arguable logic and that makes any human being dangerous. Especially the number of people he was able to sway with just words kinda makes him a bit frightening.
I agree with your views on grindelwald. While reading the original Harry Potter books when they first came out Grindelwald never seemed like Vilain in the traditional sense to me like Voldemort. If he was, it also would’ve been harder to justify the relationship he had with Dumbledore. I believe it also reflects nicely on dumbledore’s statement that the world doesn’t solely consist of pure good and pure evil. I think its an element that reflects more in the cast as well, with Nagini showing good intentions and Newts brother marrying Leta Lestrange. I feel it’s a slight improvement over the “gryfindor good” and “slitherin bad” consensus the books had.
Agree with this review. So many characters, very difficult to follow the plot though, no matter how well versed you are in the lore. There also is no plot. Really should move away from the Fantastic Beasts aspect and focus on a Dumbledore/Grindelwald prequel. Pretty sure some stuff isn’t canon.
I loved the books, I hated the movies (such a bad editting and acting except for the veterans of course). This movie I liked it, everybody says "too many characters, it's confusing..." but any Harry Potter's movie has more characters. They say the plot is confusing but never say what confuse them and so they go on. I would have love to see the Harry Potter movies portrait like this, with that direction, good performances, costume direction, sound direction, etc.
That's the very first thought I had, too. I see all The Last Jedi comments, and I'm thinking "more like Alien: Covenant" due to the over complication and preachy ass themes from Sir Ridley Scott. I'm with you, and I can definitely see and understand why people disliked CoG. And I think the comparison with Covenant is more accurate. However, I did enjoy CoG. (I'm sure some with tell me off here, but these are my opinions, and that's just what it is, an opinion. No right or wrong.) Geez, you know you're on RUclips in the comment section when you take the time to include disclaimers, LOL!
@@kaseyfife5126 I mean even the fact that the first prequel was good and the second one is the one that changes things is a direct comparison to Covenant. I havent seen CoG yet but i loved the first Fantastic Beasts and not even a huge Potter fan. What i hated most about Covenant was its need to throw out established lore and Scotts facination with explaining everything, some times things are best left to the imgaination. Im a DIE HARD Alien fan, and Covenant damn near ruined it all for me. And it wasnt so much the movie itself but Scott, every interview he did made me or and more mad, just wanted him to shut up. Lol The fact he says the xeno we see in that movie is THE xeno and the same as Big Chap just offends me in my fandom core. He just tries to over explain and retroactively change things he did decades ago. And that seems to be everyones problems with this movie, With J.K.'s messing and chanaged of established lore and characters. Its the same thing lucas did with star wars at a certain point, im no prequel hater but i cant deny he just kept making unneed changes and tried to connect everything. Maybe at a certain point, when franchises become pop culture they should be removed from the original creators because they always seem to mess it up decades later.
YES. I agree. Ridley Scott got into something that was already so thick and metaphysical and tried to explain it through his storyline by screwing up the series by not sticking to his original plan during Prometheus! Have you read the Fire and Stone Prometheus graphic novel? It makes so much more sense, and more than anything, sticks more on the Alien side of the Alien symbiote and the Engineers purpose. It's phenomenal. Buuuuut, Sir Scott decided it would be to his benefit to try to flesh out the gnostic parable along with catering to the original Alien fans like us. It was a disaster. Though I do really enjoy Prometheus, I can say that Covenant missed the mark SO BAD by half assing not only the gnostic parable and demiurge, but by half assing the Alien horror side of the story. And oh my god, did he ever half ass it. Like having another jackass look into another face hugger egg. It's f***ing lazy. I do think, that if given the chance, Ridley could and should have gone deeper into the gnostic story for those who are interested in it and leaving out the sub plot of "oh no, Aliens!" It would have worked better, but no, he twisted up his fans in some weird ass version of bad fanfiction we are supposed to except as canonical. Rowling is doing the same, getting into already established canon and turning it on its head by trying to put in a deeper message (which, like Prometheus, is all good and well, on it's own), but by attempting to cater to the Potter fans and glad handing out fan service that turns the whole thing on it's head, and confuses the continuity and blisters the story. Like you stated. I do like CoG for what it is and what it's trying to do, but I definitely don't agree with what she's doing, just as with Ridley. Sad to see. Sometimes you should just leave well enough alone, JK. Learn a lesson from Sir Scott. ♡
Me too, I watched this when it first came out. I literally couldn’t follow it and now that I’m rewatching Harry Potter, I wanted to come here to see if it’s worth the watch and turns out there’s a reason why I couldn’t follow the movie. Because it was boring to me
I don't know if Warner Bros. learnt anything at all after the misfire of their DC properties, and unless Walter Hamada changes the company's policy and primes the studio's return to director-driven roots, WB's nasty habit of world-building continues to do more harm to subsequent Wizarding World movies as well as its reputation to the eyes of both fans and casual audiences. 😢 Update: JK Rowling's growing stature as a controversial figure doesn't exactly help either. 😑
You're trolling, I'm sure. Though, regardless, it's pretty sad. A person enjoys a movie, so you feel the need to insult them? Your parents went awry somewhere along the line.
I love how every single reviewer has to qualify their level of HP fandom before these bad reviews. I completely agree though. I genuinely thought that the problem was me and I just wasn't following the plot all that well and was getting distracted by the first viewing. But seeing these reviews I now realise that the movie is the problem. The plot is utter crap. The explanations make no sense. The editing is weird.
I saw the film last night and yes, it did seem overlong and overplotted, but I hung with it and found it to be a generally enjoyable movie. Was it perfect? No. It did seem to suffer from "sequelitis" (what they liked in the first one just give them MORE OF THE SAME). Keep this in mind...film critics see movie after movie after movie and this may adversely affect their evaluation of a certain film. I go to the movies maybe 5 times a year and when I do I ask myself, "Was I entertained or did I waste my time and money" when it's over. With this film I can't say no. It's really not that bad.
That's weird I've just watched a lot of this series for the first time and I honestly really enjoyed them, and I personally give this one a B my least favorite was Half-Blood Prince witch I give a C
I honestly enjoyed the film. I'm a sucker for that world, so I'm bias, but if I didn't like it, I'd say it. Was it a little long with some awkward steps, yeah, but I thought it was a good time. James Newton Howard scored this thing wall to wall. I wish we got a little more of the OG crew, but knowing multiple films are to come (well, maybe lol) I understand what was they were going for. How about the set design too, my god.The Beasts were pretty cool, not a focal point, but they got their spotlight. So yeah, I had a good time with it. I hope it continues and works out its kinks. Great review, Chris. Cheers. (I"m not a cursed child fan, just so it doesn't seem like I dig everything HP/WW)
All I want is a scene where Grindelwald is talking to a Muggle in a bar. Like in Black Mass where Depp is having dinner and making sure the guy won't rat him out. Then the guy pulls a gun out and shoots Grendelwald and we get to see how he would handle that situation. But no that's okay, more ominous walking and whispering.
Of course, Grindlewauld's character doesn't have much depth. You have to use inferences from the HP-verse to understand his character. Only Albus and perhaps his aunt, Bathilda Bagshot, and the staff at Durmstrang, which he was expelled from, truly know Grindlewauld. Dumbledore would never fall in love with an obvious monster. OF COURSE, Grindlewauld's most deadliest weapon, other than his wand (the Elder Wand), is his ability to charm & manipulate people to his aims, including the Great Albus Dumbledore, who was willing to abandon his family for Gellert & essentially become his 1st follower, although technically they were equals. I liked the length of this movie. I hate how rushed movies are nowadays due to people bitching b/c of their short attention spans. Now, yes, this movie has serious questions/blunders about McGonagall, the Dumbledore family lineage, Dumbledore being a DADA teacher (though that really doesn't so much bother me), etc. This movie was many things, but dull is FAR from true.
How do you know Grindelwald's "evil-ness" was obvious from the start? If there's anything I love about this franchise, it's the moral ambiguity. "The world isn't separated into good people and Death Eaters". Grindelwald and Dumbledore could've easily been school friends who agreed on everything, except the former took it just a step too far. Nobody is 100% monster.
@@pivotguydc1149 again, read the Harry Potter books. Book 6 in particular and Book 7 explores the Dumbledore/Grindlewald relationship and Grindlewauld's youth issues. There was not moral ambiguity with Gellert in his youth. Even when he was young, he had a vision of acquiring great power, conquest and rule over inferior wizards & muggles, for the so-called greater good. He masked his scheme to Dumbledore, luring him with power, the hunt & search for the Deathly Hallows, and Dumbledore himself was young, frustrated/angry with muggles for what they'd done to his sister, Ariana. It was the blowout confrontation between Aberforth, Albus and Gellert that finally forced Dumbledore to see the truth in the man he loved, the man that'd be the closest equal of his generation that he'd ever come close to finding (though Dumbledore was more powerful than Gellert). Again, read the books & some Harry Potter Lexicon, too
Actually, we only knew Dumbledore tought transfiguration during Voldemort's time. From the talk with the ministry we learned they forbidden Dumbledore teaching Dark Arts as they saw him as a threath. Eego, Dumbledore tought transfiguration only in later years. But even before learning it, I can't see why it's so surprising. Snape was a potion master, but he tought Dark Arts as well in third book when the other teacher was sick. You can't expect the school stopping teaching the subject, because one teacher can't teach at the moment. They always give someone to do it in meantime... Dumbledore could easily substituting.
I feel like this movie was a little hard to follow but it still left me eager to find out what happens in the next film and left me invested in the characters
The thing is, by the point of Infinity War, you've had plenty of time to get to know and grow invested in the characters. This movie introduces and kills off a ton of side character all in the same movie without giving you much time to actually get to know them. This felt like 2 or 3 movies worth of content in one film.
Infinity war knew how to do the jumping. When they left one storyline for the other, people were invested into them and really wanted to know what happens next. So later when the movie jumps back to it, people aren't disappointed because nearly all of those storylines were exciting. It is similar to what George R.R Martin does in the game of thrones books. Execution is the key here
AJW yeah. JK was the problem. Books just don’t translate the same way screen plays do and I don’t think she understands that it’s why the movie flowed so wierd the way it would in a book
@@dfpl2554 Why? Because you say so? Don't you think you're too full of yourself. Rowling created HP and has right to do with it as she pleased. Nobody has any right to dictate what she should do or not.
![Gunna - HIM ALL ALONG [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/w7Wf0h1Q8a4/mqdefault.jpg)
I agree 100% about Dumbledore needing more screen time. Jude Law played the character perfectly and you could really see how he would over time grow into the Dumbledore in HP 3-8.
Chris looks like a disappointed parent in the thumbnail
Gavin’s Friend where’s Gavin
Chris grew up with disappointed parents
the first fantastic beasts was pretty shitty to IMO
Please please review The Ballad of Buster Scruggs or The Other Side of the Wind
Insanepie 881689 GAVIN
Rowling had too much freedom. She's no screenplay writer. She's a book author. She needs a supervisor.
I agree , writing a screenplay is so different than a a book that's why harry potter films were good because jk rowling didn't involve in the writing process.
@@samersamer4783 We can only hope WB has learnt a lesson from this.
This movie could have been saved if she wrote it as a book first, then hire a screenwriter to help her with this movie.
She thinks too highly of her own writing skill. Just because someone is good at writing books doesn't mean they can write a good movie.
@@darrelsam419 She's gone the Anne Rice route of thinking her writing is perfect therefore she doesn't need an editor. Anne Rice's writing had a sharp decline when she fired her editor, and JK Rowling's writing took a sharp decline when she has to mash a whole book's worth of plot into a 2 hour film
Tia Aaron, so how do you explain the success of the first one? Something happened that was different in the second one. I just don’t know what.
“This is the worst Harry Potter movie”
Just wait until the film adaption of Cursed Child
Please no. Oh God no. No.
Was thinking the exact same thing.
Cursed Child never happened
They will probably make Hermione black again.
Is this happening? Gods help us
They have a decent foundation in the first film; they should have developed the main quartet (newt, tina, jacob, queenie) and flesh out their character more. The dumbledore and grindelwald story line is fine, and lol all the others character could be swept away since they're all so unnecessary.
yeah every character relationship built up in the first one was just skipped over and destroyed in the new one, like yeah they hate each other now
Develope? They DID. That was what P1 did. They served up the the Core peeps. However I would say that the "other characters" are just as relevant as the core. Nowadays viewers are less and less connected with thick plot. That is not a misstep by the writer but a indictment of the viewers ability to keep up. Soooo sorry it isn't a 15 minute cartoon, and that's with commercials. Or a meme in a your next face book surf.
I kinda missed Colin Farrell. He was way more intimidating.
Not really
Exactly
He's arguably the better actor
@@wahidahmed2525 Better than Depp?
@@liampatrick3110 yes. Depp had great movies in the 90's. Now most of his characters are just goofy af. Compared to that Colin had better performances & movies like in bruge, the lobster, the gentlemen etc
CHRIS "The real crime of this movie it is just so boring" LOL So Sad to hear the is not enough Dumbledore
@@toxeyboyo Yeah I think it's bc there is too much characters
I wish Rowling would just stop retconning shit. Just make a new story and stop changing established lore and characters.
I'm sure she'll yell at everyone on Twitter who says it this time around too. I miss the old Rowling. I think the money's gone to her head and she's lost the artist side of herself.
It’s her story at the end of the day and she made it. If she wants to add things she definitely should. It’s not my right or yours or anyone’s to tell her not to do with her creation whatever she pleases.
@@issaosama4937 Anyone has the right to say they don't like it and criticize it.
She just short of a bit of cash and now on auto pilot at least she not going anywhere near Never Ending Story Remakes lol
Kinda like what i would like Star wars to do...i'm grateful for the competent Filmmaking...But like Chris said on sardonicast,i would like unconnected stories.
I thought the best scenes in this film were the flashbacks at Hogwarts. I'm not just saying that because of nostalgia, that's where I was most invested. All of the Dumbledore scenes were really good, and I do really like Newt. But I feel like we didn't get to see so many important moments. We just haven't spent enough time with these characters. There was way too much going on and yet not much going on at the same time, which is what makes the film seem boring. It's just hard to get invested right now, I really want to see Chris do a spoiler review on it.
3:23 There isn't that much Depp-th to it...?
...ok I'll leave
Arcadgel Please do.
no stay! ... so we can kick you out
honestly I laughed so hard at this xD
Badum-tsh.
my thoughts exactly xD
5/10 not enough fantastic beasts, too many people
Quite literally "cool story, needs more dragons"
1/10 Garbage movie with a fuck ton of retcons and fuck JK Rowling for saying those ridiculous statements about the characters in her books. She literally doesn’t care anymore and also she is just ashamed over the fact that she wrote a series of books that only includes white and straight people.
It’s like she has no clue about her own source material anymore because the movie keeps breaking the Harry Potter canon constantly. Also there is no reason why this movie should exist. This movie is so fucking bad that I can’t even believe that it was made.
First one I'll give an A-. This one is a D+
In classic fashion though, there will be a sequel where they give us loads of fantastic beasts but then the critics will say there was no character development but in this movie there was so Much character development but NO GODDAMN FANTASTIC BEASTS!!!
The first one struck a balance
Why can’t they do it again!!!
JK has gone full George Lucas with these prequels. Never go full George Lucas.
One day, this comment is going to have 1k likes
I agree
I hate to be that guy but I like the prequels fight me
???? ¿¿¿¿ They are bad and you should feel bad for liking them.
Jeff K nope I don’t feel bad for liking something
_The real crime in this movie is just it's so boring..._
- Chris Stuckmann
Old Chris is back. Giving ratings by movies ability to entertain and/or educate, instead of how cool or not, were special effects.
You miss quoted him dude
He's right. This movie was a joke. As a Potterhead, this was crushing.
Yea, I was actually more entertained by the dude straight up snoring to the left of me. And this was in a semi packed Dolby theatre...
Im a big potter head and man this movie was amazing
The fact that Jacob could remember what happened was bullshit. He says that the good memories of magic remained and he remembered everything. That means that there must be dozens or more people in the city that remember everything still because finding out that magic is real would not be a bad memory to most people. Therefore TONS of muggles are just boppin about knowing what happened?
Jacob was pretty much the only muggle having a good experience with magic in the first film... The rest would probably only associate it with fear and terror...
The others saw destruction and terror and why would they relate it to magic? If i saw explosion the first thing i would think about are bombs. Maybe some even remember bits about the bird but probably too afraid to even consider it real and just thinking it was a dream
No, at the end of Fantastic beasts 1, he didn't remember anything. Queenie must have given him his memory back.
Yep, classic JKR magic system inconsistency
@@666m111 I propose you to watch 1 again, because it was clearly stated that he remembers and why. I wasn't surprised at all that Jacob showed in 2, as it was not even hinted - we saw him remembering in first movie!
“Relentlessly boring” yep. I fell asleep my first time watching
I forgot the whole plot on the drive home from the theatre.
I fell asleep during the first one
And I thought the 1st film was boring to watch lol. Will watch it on Netflix next month (September 2020).
@@bluemartian9642 HAhahaha exactly me, man me and my friends looked so disappointed after we got out of that movie
I mean I fell asleep when Dumbledore and Grindelwald weren't on screen. I find myself a bit bored with both characters weren't on screen
Should've just made prequel series about Dumbledore. That would be awesome.
Agreed. I was hoping it would slowly be turning into that but who knows. I guess he's barely in it
I think that’s the thing that baffles me most about all of this. There is SO much they could have done so many interesting stories to tell and yet here we are
@@jennb3112 Seriously. And why retcon things like Nagini? Just seems very random
@@jennb3112 I guess they wanted a new franchise for children with "fantastic beasts" that gets more serious as the supposed fans grow up with it. But the problem is, it doesn't and won't have any fans to grow up.
Yeah, or maybe just tell the story from different points of view as a sort of anthology series. Regardless, let the first one just be Newt Scamander's relatively lighthearted story where he unexpectedly intersects with Grindelwald, and move on. Have the next one focus on Dumbledore and his relationship with Grindelwald. If there's more material to mine out of that story line, sure stay with Dumbledore.
But it feels really weird to me that Newt Scamander and the "Fantastic Beasts" name is getting shoved into a larger narrative about the rise of Grindelwald. It feels nakedly motivated by a desire to establish an new brand in the Harry Potter universe, and it just makes for a weird and unfocused story.
Dude, twice in one night?! I have to sleep, for God’s sake. Stop Stuckmannizing me, man!
Chris 👱🏻 can 👍 Stuckmannize 👅🤤 me 😁 as much as 🎉🎉 he 👱🏻 wants 👌
Mark Parkinson pause
Stuckmannize me d A d D y
That's what she sa.....
@Commander Shepard Hahaha. 😂😂😂
They need to switch the director to give a new wind in the franchise.
Also have someone else convert JK's ideas to film format. It felt like she wrote the script for a book and not a movie.
A series would ge better with how JK is writing the script.
I agree!!
This movie really showed that J.K. Rowling doesn't know how to write a good screenplay. There were several moments in the movie where I felt like things happened or characters showed up simply because they were in the book that the movie is based off of, but then I remembered there is no book to explain any of that confusing stuff.
grievous444 the movie felt like it was trying to replicate the slow but intense pace and dramatic reveals of Game of Thrones, but failed.
@@judaychop That is literally Yates's m.o. He thinks he's an Fantasy Epic Film Director when really he's a Heady Drama Film Director. Maybe if he approached the film as a heady drama, he would be more successful, unfortunately, he continues to try to be bigger than he is. He shouldn't have ever been allowed to do HP 6, much less continue the franchise with Fantastic Beasts.
YOU MEAN WRITER.
What the heck is J.K. Rowling doing with these films?
Making $$$$$
@Fotus Knight lmao you're just pathetic
Fantastic Beasts and the Crimes of Grindelwald is the Harry Potter version of the Attack of the Clones.
@@JNeedleVidsI am sorry, I don't want to quarrel with you but George Lucas made prequels because people wanted him to make them for a very long time. He was always hesitant about it. And prequels had to be trilogy because you couldn't tell anakins whole story in one film. The fact that first two are bad is another story.
You know what was made only for money? Hobbit? You could easily tell the story in 3hours long movie but they made trilogy out of it for no reason but money.
George is actually a nice guy and it really hurt him when after all those years people were begging him to make prequels they started shitting on him and making fun of him.
He knew exactly what he wanted to tell and he told it. I appreciate prequels for that, even though they are mostly disappointment.
And don't forget that after selling SW to Disney, which he did because he wanted the franchise to continue but was to resistant to do it himself...he donated 70% of money he got from Disney to charities. Also he doesn't have any money from new movies now. Please, don't shit on him, he is truly nice guy compared to others
Void Darkness I mean its kind of true. Normally I would say an artists politics, is their own business. But its hard to ignore, when an artist directly injects it into their work, to the point that it affects the actual plot. Even that wouldnt be an issue, if the writing was well done. But there have been so many times, where JK Rowling cared more about her social political stance, that she was willing to cram it into a plot point, even if it wasnt earned. Even if it weakened it. Even worse, is that JK has a history of retconning past plot, in favor of pushing her social political views.
Like I said, if an artist wants their work to be political, thats fine. You can even disagree strongly with it, but if the writing is really great, then it speaks for itself. For the record, I liked the first Fantastic Beasts. Altho there was definitely some eye rolling moments because of what I said above. But I think the characters and the world building carried the film.
Two words: COLIN FARRELL.
To be honest, I would not have enjoyed Fantastic Beasts as much as I had had Colin Farrell not been in it. He brought such a menace and gravitas to the role, it elevated the stakes to such a level. It would've been great is the character of Percival Graves had been a secondary antagonist rather than Grindewald himself, just so we could get an excuse to see more of that tension. *sighs*
Erised Moon Colin Farrell should have been Grindelwald.
Fuck yeah. Why the hell did they settle with Depp though? Whether or not he assaulted Amber Heard, Grindelwald should have been Colin Farrell. The guy is a menacing presence.
I literally laughed when Johnny Depp was revealed in that movie. He looked so utterly ridiculous, though to be fair, it's not his fault that the make-up artists made him look like an albino walrus lol.
But yeah, they shoulda stuck with Colin Farrel regardless. I felt like he was the only good actor in the movie, minus Jacob Kawolski, who was pretty good too.
@@elliemoon88 I very audibly laughed too. It was just absurd. 10 years ago, I would have expected Johnny Depp to turn up in ridiculous makeup in practically any movie. But I really thought we were past that.
Colin was the star besides Jacob of the first film. Missed him here.
Best sleep I ever had in a movie theatre.
Hahaha
Should've asked your wife to join you on this review Chris, just saying.
yes! for a spoiler discussion video!
maybe :)
@@SamLizS I know right~ :9
@@rk-ve6jy Seconded!
That would be so great! I love it when we get to see the two of them together.
I saw the movie yesterday and I have no idea why Steve Kloves and David Yates didn't tell JK that the screenplay for this was just garbage. I am a huge Potterhead and I kind of think I see where Rowling is going with that big "reveal" at the end, and it might be genius, but most of the movie just feels unnecessary
Where is she going?
This film felt like a first draft that needed a big edit.
I have a feeling the contract between JK Rowling and Warner Bros gives her ultimate authority on the screenplay.
RENEHIKO I know... Yates is a great director, when he’s given good material. He did the best with what he had, but this movie’s subpar quality is due to JK Rowling, as she is taking everything that people loved in the first film and making it bland and boring. The Thestral Chase and the end twist were pretty cool, but this is a movie that doesn’t know its place. What “crimes” did Grindelwald commit in this movie? Like 5 and they’re all typical villain things
RENEHIKO how is it genius
Dumbledoore and Grindleward was great though and perfectly acted
Sadly both have almost nothing to do.
@@christianschmidt8476 And that's Rowling's fault who wrote Dumbledore and Grindelwald into a bland character while Jude Law and Johnny Depp did their best with the material they were given
Wow. Even though you aren't going that great in terms of network and stuff, you still upload 2 vids in 1 day. 👏👏👏👏Respect to you bro.
Some Kid t
Man's gotta eat.
I didn't like the movie but I actually really liked Grindelwald
Bernard same
Me, too. Strawman kind of had a point, which I appreciated. At least I now get why people would follow him. He's good at being a fascist.
Me too
I hated the character means he did a great job..
Grindelwald is awesome
I had hoped Grindewald's crime would involve an unknown beast (maybe Nagini?) which will make Newt want to investigate.
There weren't enough fantastic beasts in the movie.
Not only was the script a massive problem, but even the directing felt off from Yates's usual level of talent. So many awkward close-up shots, especially near the start, with people just staring into the camera as if they're in the trailer for a Barry Jenkins movie. Plus one distracting shot in a classroom with Zoe Kravitz that does away with the beautiful steady cam shots of the rest of the movie in favour of shaky handheld. A very specific complaint, I know, but still...
I thought that freecam moment was really janky too!
I noticed this too. It was jarring.
Yeah, that was weird. I wasn’t sure what to think when it suddenly cut to shaky cam.
Lol I too noticed that shaky cam 😛🤣
Not as if yates directing was any good to begin with
Got to love sequels to prequels
Exactly...it gets ridiculous at some point
brandon ellis exactly lol
The scene with Leta's bogart and the flashback of her brothers death was so haunting, and really beautifully shot. But moments like that were pretty few and far between for me in this film. Was anyone else thrown off by the constant POV shots? The cinematography and production design was just gorgeous, but in terms of filmmaking, this is easily David Yates worst one so far. All of his previous Harry Potter films were so well made, including the first Fantastic Beasts. But I had a lot more issues with the filmmaking in this one than I was expecting. I think it's time to see a new director step in for this series. Obviously the script has major issues, but I cant say the movie was that well directed either.
MY GOD THE POV SHOTS
Same.
The POV shots and the tons of Slo-mo shots were extremely distracting
The pov was so awkward! Thank god I'm not alone in this!
The thumbnail looks like Chris is rethinking life...
Takin a dump
john smith taco bell face lol
@@stevangonzalez5908 hee hee
Or taking a 12 pound dump
I consider myself a MASSIVE fan and I have to kind of agree. While I found a lot of enjoyment in the film myself I was annoyed by the big twist, and unlike Fantastic Beasts I would not recommend this movie to my friends or non hp fans. Its really quite disappointing considering how great fantastic beasts was. Thanks for a great review Chris.
Ashlee Pradella I’m still seeing it even though I am a fan of HP
This movie is epic
It's epic
Fantastic Beasts was awful. Crimes of Grindelwald was great
@@m.o.485 do u know that crimes of grindelwald is fantastic Beasts. Fantastic beasts the crimes of grindelwald is the best movie ever and wizarding world is the best franchise
A C? That was very generous of you Chris.
My score. A D-
Agreed, the only good thing about this is the score and the first 5 minutes.
Chris I believe what happened with this movie is that it had too much and, personally, something that should be avoided. I mean, I don't think there was anything to tell. Not much depth. I call it the Spider-Man 3 syndrome: too many characters and sub-plots. And I would have preferred a single spin-off story about Grindelwald and his motivations.
Funnily enough. I rewatchd spiderman 3 recently. I went in it remembering not liking it and everyone tends to say it's bad but honestly. It's quite good. And in many ways has more heart than many of the super heroes coming out today. It's a little unfocused but definently not a movie that doesn't have substance.
You have as many characters and subplots in Heat or in Dark Knight and it works perfectly while taking only 10 or 15 minutes more...this movie could be cut to hour and half and you wouldnt miss anything. The problem is with her incapability to adapt book into screenplay...It is completely different kind of writing. As if you said you could do a symphony for orchestra because you can write a song with guitars and drums.
This movie is epic
This movie is perfect
@@bruh3128 It's your opinion and you have the right to keep it
I have mixed feeling about this movie. The first one was better.
-The storyline was extremely weak. The first act with Newt and his animals was interesting, but the second act was dragging the storyline. The story only built up with conflict and more conflict without a proper climax in the movie.
-Leta’s storyline was full of plot holes and mostly dragging the movie. There is a scene which includes her talking for the entire scene which I felt it was kind of unnecessary and makes you roll your eyes and go ‘uhh, can we move on to next part now?’ I liked Zoe’s acting, but it’s just David Yate’s poor storytelling skills.
-There were a lot of UNNECESSARY SUPPORTING CHARACTERS. Like seriously, the movie could have been 100% fine without them.
-The title 'Fantastic beasts’ sounds like an mere excuse.
-Nagini and McGonagall were useless. Fanservice.
-I hate Grindelwald makeup. He looks like a weirdo out of a Tim Burton movie here.
-Dumbledore with Muggles clothes? No.
-The twist in the last scene left me...speechless. What is it, Cursed Child?
What twist
Ok, I agree about Nagini. With McGonagall though, why couldn’t it have been her? There was no reason to introduce a random nameless character to show up for five minutes when they could include her for that little bit of fan service. As for that ending “twist” three simple google searches blow it entirely out of the water
Literally everyone seems to wear muggle clothes now.
Katrina Heller
David yate? You do know that JK Rowling is the one that wrote the script.
What was the twist?
Grindelwald and Dumbledore are by far the most interesting and best characters barely get screen time.
Way too many characters
Oh boy. Sadly, I agree 100%.
I grew up with Harry Potter movies and I love them to bits. Nostalgia goggles are a thing, sure, but you'll have to forget and forgive so much about this movie in order to actually like it, nostalgia isn't going to be enough. It's the first time I'm sad and disappointed about a Harry Potter movie and the taste it left in my mouth is just getting worse the more I think about it. If it wasn't for some charming moments in this it would have been hard to keep on watching. And the big reveal.. Let's just say JK did some 'Cursed Child' level of shit. And on top of all of this it felt like a filler movie. Let's hope they'll give as a decent third movie because I'm starting to lose faith in this franchise and it breaks my freaking heart.
Chris I like your beard, please keep it
Do you like my beard too?
Fuck me now maT!
Not to disrespect Chris, but no one is as good as growing a beard as Isaac Butterfield.
Mark Parkinson Lol true
Movie Night u bet
Voldemort was scary because he was barely human and incredibly dangerous with a wand.. grindelwald is also incredibly dangerous with a wand but is a master manipulator. They showed how he is always 100% calm in any situation and can persuade/manipulate people into following him with utter ease. That's what makes grindelwald so terrifying. He's a completely fresh and different villain to voldemort
0llieftw exactly! I think chris missed the point
And still, even if on paper he is terrifying because of his persuasive nature and powerful abilities, in the movie he didn't seem to have much relevance beyond "being the villain". He just talked and talked, and talked. He does not feel like the constant threat Voldemort used to be.
the fact that most of his followers didn't see what he did at the end of the movie makes him feel like a cult leader type of manipulator. in this respect i could see why he is extremely dangerous besides being very powerful as a wizard.
@@OhSo_Bear depends how people see fear. If you're afraid of someone with a scary face and incredible power with no conscience then voldemort will be better or if you fear someone with incredible power and the ability to manipulate so he gets whatever he wants whenever he wants then grindelwald is going to be a scarier villain
0llieftw You forget Voldemort’s Tom Riddle years. Talk about manipulation...
As a huge Harry Potter fan, I really enjoyed this movie, but it has problems, that Chris talked about. In the end, not the best movie in the franchise, but still very enjoyable and I accually liked that the movie was slow and that it took everything so EPIC!!!! B-
I enjoyed it too!! Thought I was the only one 😅
This movie was boring.
Chris grew up as a *Fantastic Beast*
Is that his nickname in bed?
Can understand the disappointment then
I think we need to watch the movie for this reference
the trailer for this movie was insane and made Grindelwald a badass. But once you watch the movie you can cringe at how badly they wrote him into the plot
That's what I hate about this movie industry
His "persuasion" was total bullshit and lame.
It generally went along the lines of, Grindelwald murmuring, "You know you want to join me..."
Person that seemed like a good, nice person throughout the movie: "No! I don't! Go away!"
"You know you want to join... it's your destiny...."
"aaahhh... okay maybe I'll join you"
@@jajajinks1569 lol
They wrote everyone into the plot poorly, even the characters established in the previous film. This is the worst big budget film I've seen in years.
Hassan Siddiqui *She, it was written by Rowling.. that’s why it’s so sad.
I haven't seen this and after quite a few reviews saying the same thing I don't think I will. I get the feeling that maybe this fantastic beasts series would have been better as a book rather than a movie especially with all the subplots and characters in it. There's only so much you can do in a 2-3 hour movie. And you know I actually liked how Harry Potter ended. I don't think we needed a huge backstory on dumbledore and grindelwald. We're given hints and told how this battle was epic between them and you know maybe they should've left that in our imaginations. Sometimes the magic is in keeping things quiet. Sometimes you don't need to know every last detail. I'll stick to my Harry Potter books and leave the rest of this series here.
I couldn't agree more. I wish it weren't the case, but I think it's Rowling lacking in screenwriting ability. The films feel like a novelist wrote the script and tried to get a books worth of detail and character into the story. There just isn't enough time in a 2 and a half hour film.
It honestly feels similar to the Star Wars prequels. Some great ideas, terrible writing, and everyone afraid to challenge George Lucas.
someone sounds like a Star Wars fanboy. Give it a chance with the perspective that this is a setup movie. Ya get to see some amazing sets, new creatures, and places we’ve never seen in the Wizarding World. Plus Newt is precious as usual.
You know the first Fantastic Beasts WAS based on a book?
@@shayvandy4981 I don't know if I'd say I'm a fanboy, but I love the Star Wars films. I don't obsess over them. But it's easy to see a comparison between Rowlings role in this series and Lucas' role in Star Wars. And I would accept this as a set up movie, but then what was the first one? Are there now two set up films in this five film series? The visuals and creatures we're great, but the story was lacking and overly convoluted.
@@SPM0717 a textbook?
*Acts like it’s epic?*
*Long drawn out film that thinks its way better than it is?*
So it’s essentially Batman vs Superman with wizards
@Batmandude 17 no way
@@advh6426 My cat's vomit is considered a masterpiece compared to this....
A movie with Batman and Superman going to Hogwarts would be a trillion times better than Batman v Superman and Crimes of Grindlewald put together.
literally the same thing I was thinking Lol
I appreciate your honest, well thought out critique of this film. I personally enjoyed it but I loved listening to your thoughts.
Fantastic Cash Grab and the Crimes of Johnny Depp.
Cherry Stone lol
I really do no blame Johnny Depp for this movie. JK Rowling is a great author of novels but is a bad screen writer. She dumped so much info, it is very hard to appreciate the end of the movie
@@1rjona I like Johnny Depp but he was really boring and not memorable. The movie has to much useless plot and a filler for the next film. I was really angry watching this as a huge HP fan.
@@rayray117 Yes, but why was he boring and not memorable? Could it be the lines he was given? Because the plot did not make sense. For this you need to blame screenwriter, who is JK Rowling. I really wished she just made another novel
I was fine with dep and law. My main issue was nagini. Completely pointless.
What they did to Queenie's character is OUTRAGEOUS
I liked it~ I found the connections interesting, and I find Newt really awesome (he reminds me of a student I tutor)
I hated the fact that:
Leta dies (along with her convoluted plot with Yusuf Kama)
Queenie goes insane and Tina doesn't react
Nagini was useless
Grindelwald and Dumbledore weren't gay (or shown to be intimate with eachother)
The Philospher Stone was never used
Credence is actually Aurelius Dumbledore
The main quartet (Newt, Tina, Jacob and Queenie) were very underwhelming and less character driven
Yeah I thought what's up with Queenie? She's total nuts in this movie suddenly.
Credence might be the child of the 3 muggles raping Ariana, and he might be carrying her Obscurus which would be GENIUS if that's what Grindelwald meant with "your brother wants to kill you" (he was not speaking to Credence but to Ariana) but still, agree to all of what you wrote
My brain when i heard Aurelius 🤯. It also didn make sense to me n i just felt like it was pulled out of the ass. But then again the theory of ariana.
Those were really the only problems when I watched it. It was a bit slow but I liked it still
I think they showed the romance between Grindlewald and Dumbledore in a very subtle and mature way.
Yes lets hate a movie cause "mA faVoUriTE wiZaRD isNT gAy"
J. K. Rowling created this amazing universe. Ok. Fair enough.
But in term of movies and screenplay, she should stay away.
This review is just sad, honestly. But I will go see the movie anyway.
I'm fine if she writes the basic story but leave the screenplay to the professionals. Stay along for the ride. Give and reject ideas as a producer, but leave the writing to an actual screenwriter.
I agree....she is amazing writer...From Harry Potter to Strike books, I love her style and the way she explores the story. But that is something very different than writing screenplay. In book you have as many pages as you want but in script you are limited. No one wants to see the movie that has 3 hours. So you have to make cuts in characters and story. She simply can't do that and many others cannot either. Book adaptations are very difficult and the longer book(or story) is the more difficult it is to adapt it.
I write screenplays but I would never even dare to write a book, because you have to have different kind of tools and there is nothing wrong about that.
Also, I believe she might be able to write a great script, but in order to do that she would have to be limited to only one or two films...when you know you can make 5 films and still make a shit ton of money, you don't care how weak the story is...you have three more movies to tell a simple story that could be told in two films and it would be amazing(fast pace, less and only important characters, etc)
Problem is who at Warner Brothers is going to say NO to J.K. Rowling?
Shes an incredibly limited writer, when you compare her writing in books and film to that of say...George RR Martin, who has a plan for a story and doesnt keep writing things up as he goes thru the years unlike Rowling, you really see it, George has written many of the episodes of Game of thrones himself and the dialogue and pacing, and everything is absolutely perfection, Rowling just doesnt know how to write a movie and everyone is too scared at this point to say anything back to her, it's like how no one wanted to call George Lucas out for the god awful script for the prequels ,rather sad actually because she had a creative vision and she created an amazing and iconic world that I loved as a kid and she is just tearing it down herself
The thing I liked about the first Fantastic Beasts movie was getting to know the characters so intimately, and the promise of knowing them even better in the future. It was interesting because with the Potter books/movies, we saw the characters grow up, but with Fantastic Beasts, they were adults already; we had no idea what their lives had been up to this point. I loved getting to know Newt as the awkward, gentle hero, and Tina as the bolder, defensive rule-following heroine (who is a bit awkward herself). Then there was the delightful Jacob, Queenie, Credence, Graves/Grindelwald (who was far more intriguing as Graves), and others.
Then, in Crimes of Grindelwald (which I saw only once, and forgot most of the plot immediately), they just sort of stop. Sure, we get a little background about Newt and others from the flashbacks. But somehow they took these lovely characters from the first movie and made me stop caring about them. Tina’s mad at Newt because of a stupidly-contrived misunderstanding? They hardly talk to each other in the movie, but when Newt does talk it’s...poetic? (Actually, it’s a ridiculous and improbable mix of awkward and poetic.) Jacob is back (yes!), but with no buildup? Theseus and Leta, neither of whom we’ve met yet, are suddenly engaged? What’s up with Credence exactly? And don’t get me started on Queenie.
As for the plot, I don’t understand how a movie with so much seemingly happening at once can also feel like filler. The characters barely interacted, and when they did it was disappointing. The “twists” and sad moments were so strange that I hardly cared about them (and I WANTED to care!).
All in all, as a huge Harry Potter fan, I was hugely disappointed. I can only hope that whatever went so terribly wrong will be fixed in the next movie.
Fantastic Waste: The Crimes of Warner Bros
its JK Rowling. WB cannot make any decisions in this franchise
Crimes of J.K Rowling you mean?
caio lucas Bingo 😁
Pegasus 1127 And I suppose WB had no say in stretching this franchise into 5 movies at least? Besides this is hardly the first time a franchise has suffered under their guidance *cough* DC *cough*
Peter Wilson wb has rights over dc. They can do whatever they want. Harry Potter on the other hand is owned by Rowling. She has made a contract with them.. She tells the stories n even the casting decision i guess and wb does the movies.. So stretching into 5 or 10 is her idea.
Well, it's 2018, of course our beloved franchises are gonna get shitty new entries. What an year...
Learn to write.
Nothing’s going to be perfect all the time
MCU's not on that list (for the majority, it got the best entries this year). Deadpool 2 was fantastic for X-Men too. Sadly, Venom prevented 2018 from being a near-perfect movie year for Marvel. There's also a chance for Aquaman to be the best DCEU movie (that is if DCEU is a beloved franchise at all).
@@andyparker5688 Ant Man and the Wasp was pure garbage IMO
Bulg Arin
You're quite in the minority since it has an IMDB score of 7.4/10, RT critics score of 88%, RT audience score of 80% and Metacritic score of 70%. Quite damn good.
But if you hate it, then that's fine. Still, doesn't mean it sucks just because you don't like it.
To me it's just a transition movie to guide us to the third movie, it showed us how Grindelwald managed to get Credence to believe him so that he could bring Credence with him as a future weapon :)
I liked it and the different plots worked quite together to bring us to the end of the movie. I didn't find it confusing or boring at all!
Yeah, I'm totally agree with you. It is like the step to the third movie. In this movie they only give us information and answer questions. That's all
My friend slept through the movie.
abhishek sk they just dragged it soo much...first part was too good comparing this...but you may have some other thought about it...
I almost fell asleep during all the exposition.
@@duartevader2101 just the end was good with some vfx... Or else booooooring
Same as my friend
I almost fell asleep during the Lestrage family exposition. Boring.
What I want to know is when Dumbledore gave up the suits and started wearing those dope ass robes.
Finally watched this... Masterpiece. It's like someone swapped the script for a bad fanfic and they actually shot it.
Indeed. Considering all the shipping around and forced "THESE TWO ARE A COUPLE EH", it does look like a bad fanfic!
Ive been saying this since order of the phoenix.
David yates can make a damn gorgeous looking movie. But thats about it.
triplesix
I believe Half Blood Prince was handled superbly, but yes, Yates has Joel Schumacher syndrome.
@@CynicalCharmer haha nice one
@@CynicalCharmer HBP was 2 hours of angsty teen romance with 5 minutes of something about Snape writing a potions book
@@DysnomiaFilms yeah hbp has the least action out of all of them.
(it was my favorite book tho!)
The reason I enjoyed Half Blood Prince was the slower pacing, but that's more my tastes. I'm one of the few people that has issue with Azkaban, so that works against my popularity. I think Deathly Hallows part one should have taken note, and made the first part majorly about the side-characters dealing with what's going on, before bouncing back the leads with the second half. The first instead was overlong, and the second was mindless.
I did however, after coming back from it last night, thoroughly enjoy Fantastic Beasts 2. I wasn't huge on the first instalment, but don't get the angst directed against Crimes Of Grindelwald. I didn't have issues following any of the plot, and didn't feel bored. There were some minor issues I had, but when it came to JK retconning the lore of the books and movies, I still didn't take issue. I believe for this particular kind of prequel to work, it needs to separate itself (something the first really struggled to do) from the universe, and if changing stuff is the way to go about it, I don't really mind. I'm not a purist though.
This review has literally summed up every feeling I had. I couldn’t put it into words and your review did it. I am a huge Harry Potter fan and I am the same as your wife, I can quote random facts no problem. There were moments in the movie I had no idea what was going on. There were a lot of things I liked, but the screenplay was the biggest problem for me.
Am i the only one who really liked the movie?
You are not alone, I liked it a lot, huge fan of Harry Potter also... i don’t understand all the hate, it has it’s problems... but i truly enjoyed it.
yes
No I'm with you
@Stereo Typist yeah man, everything has to suck to these bastards but things from back in the 90's and 2000's is masterpiece, fuck off 2010's >>>>>>>>>>>>90's
I loved this movie as well. It is better than the first Fantastic Beasts.
i honestly thought the first fantastic beast is ok.. but hearing the second one being this disappointing i guess ill just skip and just go watch overlord instead :)
ooo good choice, Overlord does NOT disappoint
Don't listen to the critics, watch it for yourself and make your own opinion, this movie is great in my opinion
This film is MUCH better than the first film. See for yourself.
Excellent Choice!
You should check out Widows.
Just picked it up at Redbox.
Wife fell asleep in 20 min, I started playing switch and hour in then still it went on... I never truly understood what was going on....... not anyone's intentions good guys or bad guys.... who the fuck are the characters and why am I supposed to care other then the cast from the first film
RedBox still exists?
Completley agree with everything you said . I also found the film boring and confusing at times and massively disappointing even though I did enjoy some moments and characters.
Fantastic review!
I agree I still liked the movie but it was the lower type Harry Potter type movie
I told myself if I watch it I'll wait for it to be on HBO, just watched Crimes of Grindelwald and yeah it pretty much sucks. There's just really no one to cheer for or really care about, the plot is vague and feels rushed, waaaaaay to much CGI. You can tell that J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers gave it their all & put their heart & soul into the Harry Potter movies. I've watched them over & over again, I still enjoy them... especially Azkaban.
Fantastic Beasts feels rushed, no heart and while you see it that feeling of wonder & magic is just not there. Tip to Hollywood and other studios, despite what you think, not everything needs a prequel.
No shit but if a crappy movie can make +650 million at the box office I dont think they really care whether the franchise "needs" a prequel or not.
@@john-doe842 It's all about the money unfortunately.
@@macross25 yeah..
I absoultely loved the film and saw it 3 times over the corse of it's opening weekend...mostly to make sense of all that's going on. I see this addition as a stepping-stone of sorts for the next films, so I have faith that Rowling knows the story she wants to pan out over these films, and things will be cleared up in the next 3 installments. I'm just so excited about the plot twist.
Lol
Lol.
I pretty sure it went like this
Chris: "Wow..."
Sam: (Sad) "Chrissy... That movie was so disappointing..."
Chris: (Hug) "I know..."
YES I completely agree!
Cannot believe that Rowling herself wrote the film, but it is utter trash. I love the characters too but some of them did not even have to be in this film and it would not have made a difference (e.g. Nagini, which is disappointing but not surprised). There was way too much exposition, that plot twist was utter TRASH. I liked the first plot twist (new character one), but the one right at the end was just stupid and I completely despise it. It was a plot twist for the sake of a plot twist.
However, I really love Newt as a character, he is unique and a different kind of main hero that is really enjoyable to watch. He actually grows in this film and that was the only thing I truly enjoyed about this movie, that is what they should have kept the movie as in my opinion. I also enjoy the Lestrange story until it decided to go all plot twist on us.
Depp did decent enough, mainly because he didn't do a Depp and act all weird and annoying.
In my opinion Grindelwald in this movie wasn't bad. He was freaking cool.
I disagree with your review I actually liked this film I don't understand all of the hate for this movie at all, I liked how Johnny Depp made his escape from prison and I think he added a ton of new things to the character that I really liked, I'm not much of a Harry Potter fanatic but I do enjoy this movie and the first one that just my overall opinion
I was thoroughly entertained by the movie as a whole, though I can definitely understand what people say when it was confusing at times and maybe even convoluted. For me and with the help of my other half pointing it out, I think this movie established that Grindelwald is the most dangerous dark wizard of all time. What I mean is that while he just seems like a villain and not a whole lot more, he can bring people to his cause just by talking to them, telling them what they want to hear and holding out a hand of friendship. Unlike Voldemort who used fear and intimidation to gain follows, Grindelwald appeals to his followers with arguable logic and that makes any human being dangerous. Especially the number of people he was able to sway with just words kinda makes him a bit frightening.
I agree with your views on grindelwald. While reading the original Harry Potter books when they first came out Grindelwald never seemed like Vilain in the traditional sense to me like Voldemort. If he was, it also would’ve been harder to justify the relationship he had with Dumbledore. I believe it also reflects nicely on dumbledore’s statement that the world doesn’t solely consist of pure good and pure evil. I think its an element that reflects more in the cast as well, with Nagini showing good intentions and Newts brother marrying Leta Lestrange. I feel it’s a slight improvement over the “gryfindor good” and “slitherin bad” consensus the books had.
I agree with you, but I found this one less boring than the first. Didn't care about any of the new characters at all...
It's Always a pleasure to hear Your take on Films Chris, whether they be good or bad.
"The real crime of this movie is that it's just too boring"
😂😂😂
Agree with this review. So many characters, very difficult to follow the plot though, no matter how well versed you are in the lore.
There also is no plot. Really should move away from the Fantastic Beasts aspect and focus on a Dumbledore/Grindelwald prequel.
Pretty sure some stuff isn’t canon.
I loved the books, I hated the movies (such a bad editting and acting except for the veterans of course).
This movie I liked it, everybody says "too many characters, it's confusing..." but any Harry Potter's movie has more characters. They say the plot is confusing but never say what confuse them and so they go on.
I would have love to see the Harry Potter movies portrait like this, with that direction, good performances, costume direction, sound direction, etc.
I don't understand this storyline in general.. Why wouldn't they just make a Voldemort origin story?
Niels Valgaeren This will be a Voldemort origin story. We’re getting there slowly.
@@zakc2340 thought it would but then I still don't like newt as a main character. Just my opinion though.
We have a Voldemort origin story... Half Blood Prince (IMO the worst movie adaptation)
She will probably fuck it up and add unnecessary plotlines that make no sense in the greater scheme of things.
There already is one....its a novel called "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince"
So basiclly its the Alien: Covenant of the Potter franchise. Got it!
That's the very first thought I had, too. I see all The Last Jedi comments, and I'm thinking "more like Alien: Covenant" due to the over complication and preachy ass themes from Sir Ridley Scott. I'm with you, and I can definitely see and understand why people disliked CoG. And I think the comparison with Covenant is more accurate. However, I did enjoy CoG. (I'm sure some with tell me off here, but these are my opinions, and that's just what it is, an opinion. No right or wrong.) Geez, you know you're on RUclips in the comment section when you take the time to include disclaimers, LOL!
@@kaseyfife5126 I mean even the fact that the first prequel was good and the second one is the one that changes things is a direct comparison to Covenant. I havent seen CoG yet but i loved the first Fantastic Beasts and not even a huge Potter fan. What i hated most about Covenant was its need to throw out established lore and Scotts facination with explaining everything, some times things are best left to the imgaination. Im a DIE HARD Alien fan, and Covenant damn near ruined it all for me. And it wasnt so much the movie itself but Scott, every interview he did made me or and more mad, just wanted him to shut up. Lol The fact he says the xeno we see in that movie is THE xeno and the same as Big Chap just offends me in my fandom core. He just tries to over explain and retroactively change things he did decades ago. And that seems to be everyones problems with this movie, With J.K.'s messing and chanaged of established lore and characters. Its the same thing lucas did with star wars at a certain point, im no prequel hater but i cant deny he just kept making unneed changes and tried to connect everything. Maybe at a certain point, when franchises become pop culture they should be removed from the original creators because they always seem to mess it up decades later.
YES. I agree. Ridley Scott got into something that was already so thick and metaphysical and tried to explain it through his storyline by screwing up the series by not sticking to his original plan during Prometheus! Have you read the Fire and Stone Prometheus graphic novel? It makes so much more sense, and more than anything, sticks more on the Alien side of the Alien symbiote and the Engineers purpose. It's phenomenal. Buuuuut, Sir Scott decided it would be to his benefit to try to flesh out the gnostic parable along with catering to the original Alien fans like us. It was a disaster. Though I do really enjoy Prometheus, I can say that Covenant missed the mark SO BAD by half assing not only the gnostic parable and demiurge, but by half assing the Alien horror side of the story. And oh my god, did he ever half ass it. Like having another jackass look into another face hugger egg. It's f***ing lazy. I do think, that if given the chance, Ridley could and should have gone deeper into the gnostic story for those who are interested in it and leaving out the sub plot of "oh no, Aliens!" It would have worked better, but no, he twisted up his fans in some weird ass version of bad fanfiction we are supposed to except as canonical. Rowling is doing the same, getting into already established canon and turning it on its head by trying to put in a deeper message (which, like Prometheus, is all good and well, on it's own), but by attempting to cater to the Potter fans and glad handing out fan service that turns the whole thing on it's head, and confuses the continuity and blisters the story. Like you stated. I do like CoG for what it is and what it's trying to do, but I definitely don't agree with what she's doing, just as with Ridley. Sad to see. Sometimes you should just leave well enough alone, JK. Learn a lesson from Sir Scott. ♡
@Kaitlyn Foster That she does, she plays Daniels!
Or like the hobbit for LotR
I nearly fell asleep in the Cinema watching this.
Such a shame was really looking forward to this movie
Lol it really was that bad
@@chadrasmussen6127 Yes no shit Sherlock
Me too, I watched this when it first came out. I literally couldn’t follow it and now that I’m rewatching Harry Potter, I wanted to come here to see if it’s worth the watch and turns out there’s a reason why I couldn’t follow the movie. Because it was boring to me
It's probably the iron man 2 of this prequel series
The mission impossible 2 or the ocean twelve of this series
More like the Last Jedi
Or X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Or Shrek 420: midlife crisis
Naw more like Iron Man 3 and Thor Dark World:P
I don't know if Warner Bros. learnt anything at all after the misfire of their DC properties, and unless Walter Hamada changes the company's policy and primes the studio's return to director-driven roots, WB's nasty habit of world-building continues to do more harm to subsequent Wizarding World movies as well as its reputation to the eyes of both fans and casual audiences. 😢
Update: JK Rowling's growing stature as a controversial figure doesn't exactly help either. 😑
Damn shame too, the Wizarding World has so much potential...
My favorite moment of the movie when Grindelwald threw his "needy" pet from the sky
I though The Crimes of Grindelwald was emotional, and magical, and fantastic. Everyone always seems to hate the movies I really love
cause you seem to love movies every one hates bitch .
You're trolling, I'm sure. Though, regardless, it's pretty sad. A person enjoys a movie, so you feel the need to insult them? Your parents went awry somewhere along the line.
Same here, mate.
Just give us a cameo with Tom Riddle, Rowling. Or a movie about him.
Oh, this it would be cool.
Honestly 😂 the moment they revelead nagini im like Tom? Hey? When u coming back? HAHA😂 sry random but HAH
Well,Tom is possibly 5 to 7 years old at the time of these movies so I don't think we'll see him.😕
Michael Star755 actually the last movie is goin to b in toms graduating yr so there is a possibility
@@rae5905 Wait,really? It would be great seeing Tom before becoming Voldemort.But maybe a standalone movie would be better for him.
That morgue scene was a masterclass in how NOT to do exposition dumps.
It'S "rowling" not "rowling"
?
😂😂😂
I love how every single reviewer has to qualify their level of HP fandom before these bad reviews.
I completely agree though. I genuinely thought that the problem was me and I just wasn't following the plot all that well and was getting distracted by the first viewing. But seeing these reviews I now realise that the movie is the problem. The plot is utter crap. The explanations make no sense. The editing is weird.
I saw the film last night and yes, it did seem overlong and overplotted, but I hung with it and found it to be a generally enjoyable movie. Was it perfect? No. It did seem to suffer from "sequelitis" (what they liked in the first one just give them MORE OF THE SAME). Keep this in mind...film critics see movie after movie after movie and this may adversely affect their evaluation of a certain film. I go to the movies maybe 5 times a year and when I do I ask myself, "Was I entertained or did I waste my time and money" when it's over. With this film I can't say no. It's really not that bad.
That's weird I've just watched a lot of this series for the first time and I honestly really enjoyed them, and I personally give this one a B my least favorite was Half-Blood Prince witch I give a C
I honestly enjoyed the film. I'm a sucker for that world, so I'm bias, but if I didn't like it, I'd say it. Was it a little long with some awkward steps, yeah, but I thought it was a good time.
James Newton Howard scored this thing wall to wall. I wish we got a little more of the OG crew, but knowing multiple films are to come (well, maybe lol) I understand what was they were going for. How about the set design too, my god.The Beasts were pretty cool, not a focal point, but they got their spotlight.
So yeah, I had a good time with it. I hope it continues and works out its kinks.
Great review, Chris. Cheers.
(I"m not a cursed child fan, just so it doesn't seem like I dig everything HP/WW)
All I want is a scene where Grindelwald is talking to a Muggle in a bar. Like in Black Mass where Depp is having dinner and making sure the guy won't rat him out. Then the guy pulls a gun out and shoots Grendelwald and we get to see how he would handle that situation. But no that's okay, more ominous walking and whispering.
Of course, Grindlewauld's character doesn't have much depth. You have to use inferences from the HP-verse to understand his character. Only Albus and perhaps his aunt, Bathilda Bagshot, and the staff at Durmstrang, which he was expelled from, truly know Grindlewauld. Dumbledore would never fall in love with an obvious monster. OF COURSE, Grindlewauld's most deadliest weapon, other than his wand (the Elder Wand), is his ability to charm & manipulate people to his aims, including the Great Albus Dumbledore, who was willing to abandon his family for Gellert & essentially become his 1st follower, although technically they were equals. I liked the length of this movie. I hate how rushed movies are nowadays due to people bitching b/c of their short attention spans. Now, yes, this movie has serious questions/blunders about McGonagall, the Dumbledore family lineage, Dumbledore being a DADA teacher (though that really doesn't so much bother me), etc. This movie was many things, but dull is FAR from true.
How do you know Grindelwald's "evil-ness" was obvious from the start? If there's anything I love about this franchise, it's the moral ambiguity. "The world isn't separated into good people and Death Eaters". Grindelwald and Dumbledore could've easily been school friends who agreed on everything, except the former took it just a step too far. Nobody is 100% monster.
@@pivotguydc1149 again, read the Harry Potter books. Book 6 in particular and Book 7 explores the Dumbledore/Grindlewald relationship and Grindlewauld's youth issues. There was not moral ambiguity with Gellert in his youth. Even when he was young, he had a vision of acquiring great power, conquest and rule over inferior wizards & muggles, for the so-called greater good. He masked his scheme to Dumbledore, luring him with power, the hunt & search for the Deathly Hallows, and Dumbledore himself was young, frustrated/angry with muggles for what they'd done to his sister, Ariana. It was the blowout confrontation between Aberforth, Albus and Gellert that finally forced Dumbledore to see the truth in the man he loved, the man that'd be the closest equal of his generation that he'd ever come close to finding (though Dumbledore was more powerful than Gellert). Again, read the books & some Harry Potter Lexicon, too
Actually, we only knew Dumbledore tought transfiguration during Voldemort's time. From the talk with the ministry we learned they forbidden Dumbledore teaching Dark Arts as they saw him as a threath. Eego, Dumbledore tought transfiguration only in later years. But even before learning it, I can't see why it's so surprising. Snape was a potion master, but he tought Dark Arts as well in third book when the other teacher was sick. You can't expect the school stopping teaching the subject, because one teacher can't teach at the moment. They always give someone to do it in meantime... Dumbledore could easily substituting.
If you want a good prequel, just watch Better Call Saul
Not The Joker amen
I had a hard time caring about what was happening, I can’t imagine what the kids were thinking when the beasties weren’t onscreen.
Chris is on fire today!
Glad to hear I'm not the only one that had a problem following the plot
I watched it in theaters and the whole movie I kept thinking "I need to rewatch this movie already cause I'm so confused"
I feel like this movie was a little hard to follow but it still left me eager to find out what happens in the next film and left me invested in the characters
everyone is talking how this movie is overstuffed and jumpes from one plot to the other, but I don't recall anybody telling this about infinity war
i can't recall , infinity war was a really long film .
@Craig James Review you know what would've been a great idea? Merging this movie with it's follow up movie.
The thing is, by the point of Infinity War, you've had plenty of time to get to know and grow invested in the characters. This movie introduces and kills off a ton of side character all in the same movie without giving you much time to actually get to know them. This felt like 2 or 3 movies worth of content in one film.
Infinity war knew how to do the jumping. When they left one storyline for the other, people were invested into them and really wanted to know what happens next. So later when the movie jumps back to it, people aren't disappointed because nearly all of those storylines were exciting. It is similar to what George R.R Martin does in the game of thrones books. Execution is the key here
Because Infinity War was a great movie. This wasn't.
What happened? This movie has the same director and writer as the last one, and the writer is J.K. Rowling herself!
AJW she’s an excellent novelist, but poor scriptwriter. The Fantastic Beasts films are her first attempt at scriptwriting, and sadly it shows.
@@midlight9758 The Harry Potter cow has been milked dry.
J.K. Rowling honestly should just leave Harry Potter and it's universe alone.
AJW yeah. JK was the problem. Books just don’t translate the same way screen plays do and I don’t think she understands that it’s why the movie flowed so wierd the way it would in a book
@@dfpl2554 Why? Because you say so? Don't you think you're too full of yourself. Rowling created HP and has right to do with it as she pleased. Nobody has any right to dictate what she should do or not.
I saw it today and I cried when Queenie left Jacob and wen to join Grindewald
Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander is best