‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald’ Review Round-Up: Overstuffed & Grim Without The Magic Of ‘Harry Potter’

Fantastic Beasts Albus Dumbledore

The first reviews for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindlewald are in and it seems it isn’t up to par with previous Wizarding World installments.

The second installment of the Fantastic Beasts franchise hits theaters next week and the first reviews for the film have started to come out. The general consensus seems to be that the new film isn’t as strong as the previous Wizarding World films, which have all received positive acclaim. You can check out the first reviews for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindlewald below:

The Wrap‘s William Bibbiani

The Crimes of Grindelwald probably had enough plot to drive a four-hour mini-series, but even so, what we get is often absorbing and grand. The sense that this magical world is actually, well, fantastic is finally back in the series. Although the film turns grim, and eventually evokes truly uncomfortable memories of the build-up to World War II — and, frankly, today — the delightful cast, exciting new creatures and dazzling new spells make it an enchanting place to visit; it’s just so scary and confusing that you probably wouldn’t want to live there.

The Hollywood Reporter’s Caryn James

Depp grandstands in one more gimmicky, costume-driven performance, with one more plummy accent. That routine grew tiresome many movies ago. Thankfully, the actor has limited time onscreen here. (Yates and Rowling have defended his casting in the wake of domestic abuse allegations, which Depp has denied; completely apart from that, he is no help to this film.)

As one secret is revealed, other mysteries pile up … But this new, improved sequel suggests that even when Rowling seems to have gone astray, before long she knows just what she’s doing.

iO9‘s Germain Lussier

[U]ltimately, all the steps the film took to get [to the big reveal] amount to so little, that feeling is as fleeting as its narrative. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is chapter two in a longer story that may look better once we see the rest—but, on its own, it fails to live up to its Harry Potter roots.

IGN‘s David Griffin

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is another strong entry in J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World saga. Rowling has improved upon the first Fantastic Beasts film by fleshing out her characters in a way that’s engaging, though not everybody receives as much attention. Both Johnny Depp and Eddie Redmayne are – forgive the pun – fantastic in their respective roles.
Screen Junkies‘ Dan Murrell
Ironically, for a film series that’s about magic, this lost all sense of magic and whimsy.
Chicago Tribune’s Michael Phillips

It took J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter-adjacent franchise exactly one film for the shrugs to set in, even with all those fine actors up there amid expensive digital blue flames.

IndieWire’s Kate Erbland

At least it all builds to a massive battle between the forces of good and evil — a Rowling staple if there ever was one — that tears apart some key relationships, establishes others, and sets the stage for more drama and trauma to come. As impressive as the final showdown is (it’s easily one of the most impressive setpieces in this fledgling franchise) and as shocking as the film’s closing revelations are (yes, they really are), this magic needs a spell of its own.

Birth Movies Death’s Russ Fischer

It’s the big-screen version of a Netflix series, an ineffective rehash with all the bells and whistles of the Harry Potter movies, but almost none of the magic that made them work.

Here is the synopsis for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald: 

In an effort to thwart Grindelwald’s plans of raising pure-blood wizards to rule over all non-magical beings, Albus Dumbledore enlists his former student Newt Scamander, who agrees to help, unaware of the dangers that lie ahead. Lines are drawn as love and loyalty are tested, even among the truest friends and family, in an increasingly divided world.

Directed by David Yates with a script from J.K. Rowling, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald stars Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol, Dan Fogler, Johnny Depp, Ezra Miller, Jude Law, Zoë Kravitz, Callum Turner, David Sakurai, Claudia Kim, Brontis Jodorowsky, Wolf Roth, Victoria Yeates, Derek Riddell, Poppy Corby-Tuech, and Cornell S. John.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald hits theaters on November 16, 2018.

Ryden Scarnato

Ryden Scarnato

Ryden's affection for all things DC, Marvel, and Star Wars has led him to entertainment journalism at Heroic Hollywood as a News Editor.