Fantastic Beasts Crimes of Grindelwald is way better than the first film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

That was my one line review of the new flick as I exited the theater.

FYI, I was not a huge fan of the first film as you can see by this review from 2016: Not So Fantastic Beasts.

Perhaps I loved this installment so much more because I am a legit Potterhead.

Here’s what cnet.com said about the film:

“While the first in the series didn’t quite reach Rowling’s high standards, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald offers greater stakes, a tyrannical villain and more of those adorable creatures only Rowling’s creative genius can come up with. And if nothing else, the Fantastic Beasts franchise provides us with yet another way into Rowling’s much-loved and incredibly detailed magical world.

But it’s definitely for fans and fans alone.“

As I started researching some mysteries from the film and reading other reviews, I found that the majority of critics really didn’t like it.

Hollywood Reporter said this:

“You can pore over the movie crimes committed in The Crimes of Grindelwald. But its greatest affront is its abandonment of everything the youthful energy that makes Harry Potter worth investing time in to begin with.”

And NBC News was even harsher, stating that the film is thwarted by its many subplots and cameos.

“Despite a strong cast and the Harry Potter cachet, it’s sadly one more example of the failed prequel genre pioneered by George Lucas’ “Star Wars” films of the early aughts and cemented by Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit” trilogy.”

That write-up also states that the “frustrating part of the whole endeavor is watching a beloved franchise slowly crumble under the weight of unnecessary expectations.”

Are they unnecessary? This is, after all, a story building on the wizarding world of Harry Potter, even if it does take place prior to that story.

So, now I really want to know what you think of Fantastic Beasts Crimes of Grindelwald.

Vote in our poll!

Whether we like it or not, we know there will be three more films in the series, which spans from 1926 to 1945. That end date is significant not only because the year marks the end of WWII but also Grindelwald’s defeat by Dumbledore at his fortress, Nurmengard, in Austria.

All photos courtesy of Warner Brothers Pictures.

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