Fantastic Beasts 2: The Crimes of Grindelwald – Review

Mike GristReviews Leave a Comment

Saw The Crimes of Grindelwald today, and very much enjoyed it. J.K. Rowling certinaly knows what she is doing. It plays with such a different tone from the Harry Potter movies. Like a thriller, jumping around these exotic locations, with spies and spy agencies and grand, epoch-shaping forces in the mix.

She’s remarkably good at inserting real stakes, and real hurt, into her characters and their backstories. She makes us feel it.

The theory in back of the story is a little murky, though. In Harry Potter we had that with the Elder Wand and the two other Deathly Hallows, and the mechanics behind how Harry won in his final fight. Also mystery with the RAB in the locket. Now we have all these fresh shenanigans. I don’t fully understand – the plotting was definitely thick in this one – but I am intrigued, and have faith that answers will come.

As ever, there was enormous inventiveness on display, consistent with the world we’ve seen to date. 3 more of these movies to come, spanning the next? years, after which – what? Will she take the story forward? Who will be the next major threat to the wizarding world? Presumably that will come after Harry is a grown-up. I sincerely hope she does not make The Cursed Child canon, as I really dislike that story. Not new – just a retread/medley of greatest hits. Voldemort redux, and who wants that?

If she goes forward, it should be with a new kind of threat, and maybe a new kind of movie. HP was primarily coming of age. Fantastic Beasts is thriller/spy/action. A future story could be detective/horror? We haven’t seen serial killers in her world. She’s very familiar with that area from the Strike books. Or romance? Rom/com? 😉

Six years+ to think about it.

J.K Rowling is worth $1 billion, apparently. A savvy businesswoman – taking control of Potter ebooks, getting a slice of the parks, and now producing the movies. That’s the kind of money that can remake chunks of the world. Not only do her stories spread her values, but the money we give her for those stories can spread her values further.

Fantastic. I am very intrigued what she will do in the future. As I understand, she currently contributes to other charities. I expect she’ll make her own charity at some point, presumably aimed at uplifting poor, neglected children to a better life. Basically, to empower a Dumbledore-like organization, probably staffed by people who grew up inspired by her stories, and by the love/grace/wit of Dumbledore himself. In order to prevent the next Voldemort or Creedence from happening.

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