The fate of one. The future of all.
Official Synopsis
Warner Bros. Pictures’ Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is the second of five all-new adventures in J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World™.
At the end of the first film, the powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) was captured by MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America), with the help of Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne). But, making good on his threat, Grindelwald escaped custody and has set about gathering followers, most unsuspecting of his true agenda: to raise pure-blood wizards up to rule over all non-magical beings.
In an effort to thwart Grindelwald’s plans, Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) enlists his former student Newt Scamander, who agrees to help, unaware of the dangers that lie ahead. Lines are drawn as love and loyalty are tested, even among the truest friends and family, in an increasingly divided Wizarding World.
The film features an ensemble cast led by Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, with Jude Law and Johnny Depp. The cast also includes Zoë Kravitz, Callum Turner, Claudia Kim, William Nadylam, Kevin Guthrie, Carmen Ejogo, and Poppy Corby-Tuech.
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is directed by David Yates, from a screenplay by J.K. Rowling. The film is produced by David Heyman, J.K. Rowling, Steve Kloves, and Lionel Wigram.
Slated for release on November 16, 2018, the film will be distributed worldwide in 2D and 3D in select theatres and IMAX by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
EA’s Analysis
It was imperative to watch Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald in a theater full of Potterheads. Trust me, this film bewitches the mind and ensnares the senses. It’s fantastic and no Muggle, No-Maj, or Non-Magique is going to make me think otherwise.
I was going to start by saying that I didn’t understand why these movies were called Fantastic Beasts instead of A History of Magic or A Wizarding World Story (you know, like A Star Wars Story), but I remembered the reason. When Warner Bros. contacted Jo to express their interest in making a film adaptation of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (the short book that J.K. Rowling wrote in 2001, which earnings she gave to charity), she basically replied: Ok, we’ll make a movie, but only if I write and produce it… And we’ll make five!
I was in the world, the wizarding world, in my head, for 17 years. Obviously, that includes the period where it was only in my head and no one else knew about it. And if you’ve been with something for 17 years, it doesn’t leave you. It’s not just that I wrote it for 17 years, I wrote it during a very tumultuous period of my life, and it was always there for me. Potter became like Beatlemania. It was insane. And that’s a wonderful problem to have. Saying goodbye to it was a bereavement. It’s there. That world is still in my mind. And I knew that Warner Bros. might, at some point, want to do something with Fantastic Beasts, if I’m honest, that’s the reason for all these years I’ve always said, “Never say never.”
J.K. ROWLING, BEFORE HARRY POTTER: A NEW ERA OF MAGIC BEGINS!
Director David Yates said that it was producer Lionel Wigram’s idea of bringing Beasts to the screen originally as a concept. Producer David Heyman later stated that Lionel had the idea of turning that into a documentary initially and that Jo [Rowling] was really sparked by that idea. So when Warner Bros. went to her and said: We’d like to do something, she was prepared to show them a whole new side of the Wizarding World. “I always had a lot of backstory on certain characters, so I started writing what I saw as Newt’s story. And 12 days later, I had a very rough screenplay,” said Rowling. “It was utterly different to being a novelist, where you’re alone for a year, completely alone for a year, and then one person gets to read it. So while I would say I had a virtually vertical learning curve, we’ve ended up with something that is really what I saw in my mind.”
So now we can witness the adventures of the magizoologist Newt Scamander along with the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald’s quest for power. It might seem like a strange mix of events, but the underlying story has been there since the very beginning. If Tolkien was able to develop his masterpiece from a small encounter with Gollum’s Ring in The Hobbit, why can’t Rowling turn Dumbledore’s card, that Harry Potter found in his first chocolate frog, into a five-part movie series?
I won’t analyze any plot points about this film yet, so don’t worry about spoilers. But if for some reason you can’t wait until November 16th at midnight, and you’re starving for details, it’s sufficient to say that The Crimes of Grindelwald explores the Wizarding World like you’ve never seen before. It might not be a movie for everyone, especially not for casual moviegoers, as they may get a bit confused with the narrative, but if you’re a Potterhead, you’ll probably love it.
So, what’s great about this movie? For starters, the opening sequence: It’s really impressive! If you thought Deathly Hallows was dark, that’s nothing compared to what’s to come. This is a crime/mystery movie with magic. And Merlin’s beard, the magic! Do you remember how in the Harry Potter films, when there was a duel, it seemed like everyone just threw lightning bolts at each other? You’d think that if there’s a class called Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, wizards and witches would know how to use different defensive spells. Well, here we finally get to see magic used in new creative ways, a bit reminiscent of that famous Dumbledore vs Voldemort Duel.
One thing J.K. is really good at is creating detailed environments. In the books, we would have rich descriptions of places. Just think, for example, of Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, or the Ministry of Magic. “One of the reasons I think the Potter books worked as well as they did was that the world was so richly conceived, and it wasn’t a mistake, she [Joe] knew the world in such detail, and I think that slips across into this.” said producer David Heyman when talking about the first Fantastic Beasts film. The Crimes of Grindelwald allows us to discover new wonderful places, which come to life thanks to the incredible production design. “Part of the joy of writing these movies has been exploring wizards in the Muggle world,” Rowling said. The importance of set design on these films has been a constant. “We learned on the Harry Potter films that the successful formula was, if at first the sets seem totally believable, familiar, credible, and the magic grows out of that, then the magic is very effective,” said production designer Stuart Craig. And it really is astonishing the amount of detail and work that goes into these sets, props, and costumes. “Background is part of the story and the palette that sets the tone for the principals in the world. You see it even if it’s subliminal. It’s also a really fun part of the design process, because, sometimes you can do stuff on the crowd that you cannot do on the principals,” said costume designer Colleen Atwood.
Of course, no proper prequel is complete without referencing the original story; I can only say that Hogwarts has never looked this grand… Well, maybe except for the Alfonso Cuarón film.
Note: I’ll continually update this post once the film is released worldwide.
Learning new information about the Wizarding World and seeing things that you once read in the Harry Potter books is what makes Fantastic Beasts so exciting as a fan. Little details like discovering, in the first film, that “you can make an invisibility cloak from the pelt of a Demiguise, which is why they’re hunted and endangered,” was really amazing. Likewise, one of the most exciting things in Crimes of Grindelwald for me was seeing a Kappa for the first time on screen.
One of the criticisms I’ve seen since the movie was released around the world, is that it seems as if Jo has had a difficult time transitioning from being a novelist to being a screenwriter. Movies are a visual medium. There are things that work really well in novels, but don’t always work in a film. “As a novelist, I love writing dialog. I really enjoy structure. I think it’s very important. If you haven’t got tension, if you haven’t got conflict, you haven’t got a story. I started with those two things that I think you need.” said Rowling.
Posters
Gallery
Trailers
Details
| Official Sites | Facebook |
| Theatrical Premiere | November 16, 2018 |
| Director | David Yates |
| Writer | J.K. Rowling |
| Producer | David Heyman J.K. Rowling Steve Kloves Lionel Wigram |
| Cast | Eddie Redmayne Katherine Waterston Dan Fogler Alison Sudol Ezra Miller Jude Law Johnny Depp Zoë Kravitz Callum Turner Claudia Kim William Nadylam Kevin Guthrie Carmen Ejogo Poppy Corby-Tuech |
| Cinematography | Philippe Rousselot |
| Production Design | Stuart Craig |
| Music | James Newton Howard |
| Rating | PG-13 |
| Genre | Sci-Fi/Fantasy |
Elias Movie Blog 
Leave a comment