Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald - 2018

Directed by David Yates.

Written by J.K. Rowling.

Starring Eddie Redmayne, Ezra Miller, Jude Law and Zoë Kravitz.

Okay to start I’m going to try and make this review spoiler free but I am a bit hopeless and avoiding telling people spoilers and anyone who knows me personally knows this is true. But I’ll put a warning in anyway.

That was your warning…

Honestly, I had no idea what to expect when I sat down in the theatre to watch this film.

I’d heard very conflicting reviews, many Potterheads said that they loved it, others said they didn’t think it was very good and, then Buzzfeed dragged the film through hell and back with their reviews.

I actually really enjoyed the film. The majority of the casts acting was brilliant, I especially enjoyed Zoë Kravitz, Ezra Miller and Claudia Kim’s performances.

I remember when reviews started to come out when the first was first released all discussed the inaccuracy of the timeline at Hogwarts. The film is set in 1927, and there is a certain iconic Scottish professor is already teaching at Hogwarts but according to her Wikipedia page she was born in 1935. So there was a little bit of a double time technique used there.

It’s one of those films where the plot fails but the technical aspects of the film make up for it.

The plot consists of various “mini” plots which all were connected in various ways - which truthfully I struggled to keep up with. There were a lot of characters in the first film and then they added even more characters in this film, I just got extremely confused.

The aim of the first film was to set up each storyline for the next film, and while some questions were answered in this film. I struggle to see how this plot line is going to carry on for three more films.

Rowling’s attention to detail however, along with the graphics made up for the confusing plot line(s). Her attention to detail in creating new creatures, spells and characters is just admirable. The graphics used to create these creatures and spells for the big screen is mesmerizing.

I just wish the plot was less confusing, because the minute a film or television show’s plot line becomes confusing my concentration breaks.

The plot twist at the end of the film is certainly a key moment that sets everything up for the next film. It immediately drew me back in and left me wanting answers.

That is kind of all I can discuss about that ending, without giving too much away.

Also, they really did some characters dirty in this film. It was a clever plot twist but was it really necessary?

Overall, I went into the theatre not knowing what to expect and I was pleasantly surprised, happily entertained but mostly confused.  

If anyone wishes to discuss the films plot with me more, feel free to leave a comment below. You can also contact me via twitter (@niamhcrawley_), instagram (@crawley.filmandtv), facebook or, you can email me at crawley.filmandtv2000@gmail.com.