As a fan of the Harry Potter franchise on a guilty level, there is no doubt that my ‘Fantastic Beasts’ expectations were relatively high. Even though I was not as blown away by the stories plot line, the amount of special effects kept the film visually interesting.
A follow up from the first film ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’, the film follows the story of newt (Eddie Redmayne) and his friends as they attempt to stop the scheming Gellet Grindelwald from rising to power so that pure blood wizards can ultimately rule over all who live in the muggle world.
Whilst it is pretty much safe to say the vast majority of the films audience would have seen the Harry Potter films (for British people there is no excuse because the 7 films have become part of our artistic and literary culture) for those who haven’t, the film might be a little confusing. Various much loved references to the wizarding world we have been familiar with for the past 11 years were spotted, including the creator of the philosopher stone from the first film Nicolas Flamel; even the castle itself was added in to the final scene. I personally felt a pang of nostalgia when I saw the castle pop up again: fond memories of watching them all those years ago coming to mind.
It was interesting, also, to see Dumbledore (played by Jude Law) as his young self, and it was nice to see such well known characters in a slightly different light with more in depth stories to tell. Zoe Kravitz gave a polished performance as the more austere Leta Lestrange, as she was able to balance the more reserved nature of the character who had an outsider’s background with a more emotional one. Her emotion was particularly noticeable when she confessed an event that happened in her past as a younger girl.
With a mixture of comedy and fantasy, the Fantastic Beasts sequel promises to be a film that all the family will love. ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald’ sees JK Rowlings magical world take to the screens once more with all the wow factors and characters that made us enjoy the rest of her works.
7/10