By Tanvi Jha
Whenever a new movie of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter releases, we all expect it to blow us away with its magic every time we re-enter its world, which most of us remember as being the sole structure of our childhood. However, this movie fell below our expectations this time for the simple fact that many fans found that the movie was in simple terms - unnecessary.
The movie opens with Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) escaping from captivity while he is transported out of the prison in America. Meanwhile, our charming protagonist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) is being persuaded by the Ministry of Magic and Dumbledore (Jude Law) to travel to Paris and find Credence (Ezra Miller) while Jacob Kowalski is in search for Queenie in Paris after a spat between the two of them.
As a Harry Potter fan myself, I was really excited to watch the sequel. The first Fantastic Beasts movie was adventurous, charming, with an icing of sweetness for all the romantics. The sequel was in some ways attempting to recapture these qualities, however, the biggest problem was the lack of plot.
Before I begin with the plot, it’s important that I address the acting in the film. For all of you die-hard Eddie Redmayne fans, I can assure you that his performance was nothing less than ‘fantastic’. His portrayal of Newt Scamander always finds a way to surpass my own expectations and I find that his character continues to find its own way to defy the cinematic portrayals of ‘masculinity’. It was his character’s moments that I feel made watching the movie entertaining enough.
Meanwhile, the remaining actors, Katherine Waterson (Tina Goldstein), Ezra Miller (Credence), Dan Fogler (Jacob Kawolski) and Alison Sudol (Queenie Goldstein), were excellent in their performances, upholding their characters whilst developing them through the plot. Now coming to the elephant in the movie, Johnny Depp’s portrayal of Grindelwald is quite well done despite the controversy. However, I find it very hard to imagine his Grindelwald with Jude Law’s Dumbledore as a past love interest, especially since J.K. Rowling herself has proclaimed that the characters were once lovers. Still, he brings an impressive performance to the table.
Now facing the big question of “why the plot was so weak?” I have said this to many and I will say it again; the main revelation in the movie (which will be left out to avoid spoilers) is presented in the last five minutes which could have easily been the prologue of the next movie. As a matter of fact, most of the events taking place are largely quite pointless. Although, one would expect that a slow plot would give room for character development or progression of the love stories but sadly the opposite happened. While our characters all go through their own moments of blissful romance that would make anyone blush, they had no real significance. Any or all emotions expressed throughout this movie were no different from the ones that had been expressed in the previous movie. It is no wonder that many felt unsatisfied by the time the end credits rolled.
Regardless of the mixed feelings of many fans, there is still hope for the overall franchise and I believe that the entire cast will return shortly, taking this weaker movie as an opportunity to surprise us with new one that will certainly leave us stunned.
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