The Crimes Of Grindelwald – Movie Chat

There has been a lot of talk about this movie in the last few months, mostly bad, but some good. It hindered my thoughts of the movie going in to it, and honestly i had a bad taste in my mouth before i even stepped in to the cinema screen. But i wanted to try it out.

I fell so completely and helplessly in love with the first Fantastic Beasts movie and Eddie Redmayne’s Newt Scamander that i felt like i had to watch the second one, to enjoy his acting more than anything else. I also admittedly was very excited to be back in the Wizarding World and have the shock of a new story-line that i knew nothing about all over again.

I had obviously seen a lot of the controversy online about Nagini (i won’t be talking massively about this, i am aware of the issue and completely agree that it’s problematic, but if you want to know more, give it a Google!), the casting of Depp again in another movie and a few smaller details.

The one thing i wanted to do despite this, was make my own opinion on it. I didn’t overly want my opinions to be challenged by strangers online saying what they did and didn’t like about the movie. A lot of the issues that were brought up in the online communities i did in fact have a lot of issues with during the movie. It wasn’t perfect for me under any circumstance. I enjoyed it, but it definitely wasn’t perfect.

It had some casting issues (admittedly), some plot issues, and it felt a little fanfiction-y to me. However, that being said, i wanted to talk a little bit about what i actually liked about the movie. I’m really interest to see where they take the story in the next three movies.

First of all, i still am really enjoying the fantastic beasts element to it. As Newt is studying these creatures, there are a lot of them threaded through the movie. This is the kind of thing that i always wanted to see more of from J. K. Rowlings world. I wanted to see what creatures were around and how they lived and the differences between those magical ones and the ones in the muggle world (or our animals!). I really love seeing that part of the world.

I also really enjoyed the new characters and the way the story is going in general. It has the thrill of Harry Potter to me now. Admittedly, after the first movie i had absolutely no idea where this would go. However, it seems to pick up the pace a little with Crimes Of Grindelwald and the thrill of reading a Harry Potter book for the first time came back for me. It was excellent and i honestly had to grip my seat a few times at the excitement of what was going on.

The cast is another reason that is keeping me going with this story. As I said, i love Eddie and i think he’s the perfect Newt. Also Ezra Miller really shone in this movie as an excellent actor, and someone who will clearly develop in to a great character as this continues. I think he’s absolutely excellent. With the reveal of Newt on the autism scale, it makes me really happy that there are becoming small nods to diversity in this series. With autism and some other diversities loosely made reference too (i specifically don’t want to spoil anything by saying what), it really is an improvement to what this used to be.

For me, the story of this world keeps me watching. There are a lot of unnecessary parts that i’m not too interested in, but it feels cosy and safe. Even with none of our favourite Harry Potter characters around, it feels like home again.

I completely agree with anyone who is choosing not to support this movie and the decisions that J. K. Rowling has supported with the making of this movie. Along with a lot of the issues within The Crimes Of Grindelwald that are making a lot of people uncomfortable. For me personally, i like where the story is going and it’s keeping me interested, and the little bits of fantastic beasts that are actually peppered through the story i love.

Let me know if you’ve seen The Crimes Of Grindelwald and what you think about it!