The dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) has been captured and currently being held in New York in 1929. Being clever as he is, he makes a daring escape and starts to draw followers once again on his message of wizards and witches ruling the world. Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) is the one wizard who can stop him, but instead sends one of his favorite former students, Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne). The young man may not be as powerful as the others, but he always has a magical creature up his sleeve to help him out of a sticky situation. The one question is, will it be enough to stop Grindelwald?
When the Harry Potter movies first began, Warner Brothers brought in high profile, experienced directors to help shape the vision of the franchise. However, starting with the fifth movie, they hired David Yates, a director with very little experience outside of television. The studio recognized they no longer needed someone of high caliber since they knew the movies would bring in a ton of money no matter who was guiding it. They were correct, but the series has suffered for it and still does with this new entry.
One glaring black mark on Yates was his ability to direct exciting action sequences. He had never done anything like the Harry Potter movies before and as a result many of the scenes that should have been the most exhilarating was instead just pedestrian. This story opens with Grindelwald’s escape, which takes place at night and it made it hard to see and again, just turned out to be mundane, leading one to say, “Oh, boy. Here we go again.”
The original films had a solid blueprint to work from, bestselling novels. These prequels don’t have that luxury. There is no arguing what a great writer J.K. Rowling is and the world she created. Screenwriting is a very different medium than straight print. Her script often lacks focus and not as tight as the other ones were. The subtitle may be The Crime of Grindelwald, but the story is often all over the place.
There is one aspect of the story that surprisingly did not get glossed over. After the last Harry Potter book came out some readers were shocked to learn that Dumbledore was gay, according to the author. Even more, on how he and Gellert were “very close.” Nothing is said explicitly here, but there are some shots of the two together and words spoken that backs all this up. It was a refreshing surprise to see this included in the tale.
The climax does create moments of tension and is the best sequence in the two hour and fifteen-minute feature. David Yates sometimes can deliver on an action sequence, but seldomly happens. This raises a big concern since three more movies are planned. As many die-hard Harry Potter fans know, the most famous wizard duel in history is Dumbledore vs. Grindelwald. Now that fans know they will one day get to see this battle, it would be a shame if it doesn’t match what they hope it could be. On this current cash grab course, it’s doubtful that it will.
1.5 Tiaras.