Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) ★★1/2

I'm late to the game here- by design. I wasn't overly enthralled with the first installment of this particular franchise (though I do remember enjoying it). I feel I need to make the distinction that I mean the "Fantastic Beasts" franchise and not "Harry Potter" as a whole because despite it's best efforts, this simply cannot be considered part of the Harry Potter Saga. Attempts at charm, mystery, and awe manage to play out as redundancy, predictability, and cheap thrills respectively.

Compared to it's immediate predecessor even, this film pales. I found the awkward introversion of Newt Scamander taxing, the clunky over-acted comedy of Kowalski boring, the rallying cry of the nationalistic baddie less than terrifying. Even the "fantastic" beasts seemed less fantastic somehow.

That said, there are still some things to enjoy here. Jude Law as a young and ostensibly gay Dumbledore is particularly refreshing and though many of the more grandiose wizard-y spectacles left me wanting, I did find some joy in the smaller magical moments and critters.

The Fantastic Beasts saga is building off of momentum created by, or possibly the nostalgia for, the original Harry Potter films. Revisiting Hogwarts, seeing The Mirror of Erised, a boggart, and hearing that indelible theme will forever evoke magical feelings in most of us. For me though, the highlights of this film weren't enough to justify sitting through the library of new(t) mythology and I left my viewing with more apprehension for a third installment than if someone had told me that "He Who Shall Not Be Named" was coming back.

-Max Minardi (Reviewed on FHC 118)