Warning: contains spoilers***
Newt is suspended from traveling but gets to go with his
brother, Theseus, to find Credence Barebone, who is in France. His American companions,
Tina, Queenie, and even no-maj, Jacob, reunite with him. Newt also meets Albus
Dumbledore and works together with him. Things get dark and intense quickly.
Unlike many films, I was in the majority of how I viewed
this movie. I am often in the minority with a lot of films, where most
didn’t like them, but I enjoyed them. With a few exceptions, however, I drift
apart from those movies and lose strong feelings about them over time.
Anyway, back to this one. The overall tone was a little too
dark and intense for me, especially when Leta had swapped her baby brother, Corvus,
with another one (who happened to be Credence), and Corvus died. I found it odd
that she didn’t get arrested, even though she was only supposed to be, like, 4
years old.
Speaking of which, the actress who played 4-year-old Leta
was the same one who played her as a Hogwarts student. I know some say realism
isn’t supposed to be dwelled upon, but that’s about a ten-year difference as in
the flashback scene where Newt and Leta were at Hogwarts (and I believe Eddie
Redmayne also played the same character as a student, which made me assume Newt
was a little older than Leta), and I think they were third-years. That’s a bit
too bizarre.
Like many fans, I noticed some inconsistencies with this
movie, such as disapparating onto Hogwarts grounds, which isn’t supposed to be
possible. Some people guessed that maybe it used to be allowed and then changed
before Harry Potter arrived at Hogwarts. But J.K. Rowling said that it was
always there. What?
Others include the Obliviate spell only erasing bad memories,
probably so that audiences could be satisfied to see Jacob reunite with Newt,
Tina, and Queenie. Nice try, creators, but the memory-wiping spell erases
pretty much all memories, including the good ones, as shown in “Harry Potter
and the Chamber of Secrets”.
And let’s not forget that Professor McGonagall made a brief
appearance in both the current moments of the film (1927) and the past ones
(1910’s) as a woman in her late twenties or early thirties. I hear she was
there because J.K. Rowling says she isn’t that good at math. Hey—a lot of
people aren’t, including myself. Still, Professor McGonagall shouldn’t have
been born for several years, not until 1935. Unless she was lying about her age
this whole time (which is not un-common for women to do as well as hide their
real ages), this was just sloppy, even for someone who isn’t very strong in
math. I’m sorry. It’s no wonder some people presumed that maybe that was a different
Professor McGonagall, who happened to be similar, but unrelated to the one we
know. However, it’s the same one.
The ending was also unsatisfying, as well. Grindelwald is
basically Voldemort of the 1920’s. And Queenie took his side so that she could “hopefully”
be with Jacob, because wizards and witches weren’t allowed to communicate or
marry no-majes.
While I enjoyed the main “Harry Potter” franchise as well as
the first “Fantastic Beasts” film, I’m afraid this didn’t really do much for
me. It was so dark and intense that I felt the need to watch something more
lighthearted, and I did. I watched a “Mickey Mouse” cartoon.
Anyhow, I’d rate this movie 3 out of 5 stars. The cast and
crew promise to fix the plot holes and inconsistencies in the third “Fantastic
Beasts” movie, which won’t be released until 2021. Hopefully, that one is
better.