Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

The second Fantastic Beasts is finally here, but this time everything is a little more serious and a little darker. Grindelwald has escaped the American Ministry of Magic jail, and no one can find him. The British Ministry wants Newt's help, but Newt has other plans in mind. J.K. Rowling has done it again. She has created a world that people love, and a story that people love to hate. This film is full of secret messages and one heck of a cliffhanger that has left audiences in disbelief, but has she upset more people than she has pleased?

I will try not to give too much away in these first few paragraphs, and then I will go on to discuss my thoughts about the cliffhanger. If you have not seen the movie, I highly suggest you only read the beginning portion (until the bold words below that say stop) and come back later for the rest. I have now seen the movie twice and I have spent a few days in between both times to think about it all and come to terms with it. The first time I saw the movie, I was extremely confused. I didn't know what was going on or who was who and I left the theater with very few words. I didn't know what to say. So, I went home, and I watched the first movie again. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is super lighthearted and happy. Newt is running around collecting his beasts and taking them to safety, oh and by the way Newt there's an obscurial running around and no one knows who it is. The obscurial is not Newt's main concern however. Throughout the whole first movie, Newt rarely has anything to do with the obscurial until the end. The ministry is dealing with it, and we are even lead to believe that they kill it in the end. This turns out to be completely inaccurate.

Go back and watch the last few minutes of the first movie. Notice how Newt sees a small bit of the obscurial float away after the ministry aurors try to destroy it. The only way anything could be floating away is if Credence survived. Surprise! He's alive, and Grindelwald still wants him. I think this is where my main dislike comes in. The name of the movie is The Crimes of Grindelwald. So I'm thinking I'm going to see tons of crimes committed by Grindelwald in this movie...but I didn't. I saw some crimes, this is true, but Grindelwald doesn't do any of them. The only crime Grindelwald commits in this whole movie is escaping from prison. After that he is nothing but a glorified cult leader. He sits around in an apartment all day while his followers go out spreading his name and committing the crimes that Grindelwald can't commit himself. This man is supposed to be one of the evilest men alive, worse than Voldemort even will be (remember this is before Voldemort's time), and he never goes outside. He is nothing but a charismatic cult leader that promises everything he thinks people want to hear to gain their trust. I need more.

Some of my confusion in this series comes from the new faces and the story that I've never read. My love of Harry Potter came from the books that I could hold in my hands and that I could read and learn about the characters. Now, J.K. Rowling is introducing new people and new backstories that I don't like and I don't agree with. She always says she stands behind these stories, but I think she's become too politically correct (more on this below). One new face we meet is Leta Lestrange (Zoe Kravitz). We know from the first movie that Leta and Newt are old friends from school and they have a mysterious history that Newt doesn't like to talk about. In this sequel, we learn more about Leta and her family history. How is she messed up in all of this? How could she be so evil, but also be friends with Newt? I did like Leta's part in this movie. I like her story and I'm glad we were granted some clarifications.

Overall, I feel like I enjoyed the movie, but I'm not sure how I will like the rest. I don't see J.K.'s vision for this series and I don't know how she can connect all of this to the future story that we all know and love. I think she needs to tread carefully because she is upsetting more people than she is pleasing. Supposedly there will be three more movies (for a total of 5 in this series), and I am interested to see where she takes this. IMDb reviewers give this movie a 7/10 and Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 66%, but it is also rotten if you look at the critics reviews. I don't know where I stand. I so badly want to like it that I think I'd give it a 6/10, but at the same time, that could just be because I loved the last 15 minutes so freaking much. It was a huge build-up, full of confusion and little hints to the truth, that ended with a bang. I could watch the ending another ten times and it wouldn't get old, but is that enough to please the biggest Harry Potter fans, such as myself? I'm not sure.




 STOP IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE! SPOILERS FOLLOW!




I think I made the above notice pretty clear, so if you're still reading, you better have already seen the movie. First, I'd like to discuss Rowling's politically correct-ness. 1.) The allusion to Dumbeldore being gay, 2.) Nagini is an Asian woman/maledictus. Do not get me wrong. I have nothing wrong with gay people or Asians, I just find it funny that in a world where people are complaining about not enough diversity or lack of fairness for minorities, that Rowling suddenly jumped on board. Harry Potter showed very little diversity. I'm pretty sure Cho Chang was one of very few Asians at Hogwarts. So why now? Why in this one movie do we throw two of the minorities in there? I don't like it. I do not like that Nagini is a woman at all. We have only known her to be a snake, which as a maledictus makes sense. Maledictus is able to transform from human to animal for their early lives, but they eventually get stuck in their animal form. Fine. I can accept that. I'm not a fan of change and seeing her as a human is not my favorite, but why is she in the circus? Does Nagini just love being under someone else's control? Doesn't look like it to me. You want me to believe that she leaves the circus to be free, just to end up working for Voldemort and his evilness? I don't see it.

Now Dumbledore being gay....with Grindelwald....are you serious? Have you looked at Grindelwald? He's creepy and not cute and I'm sorry, but Dumbledore is one of my favorites and I don't see it. Not once while reading the Harry Potter books did I think OMG he's gay! Why does J.K. do this to me now?! Why does he have to have any sexuality at all? Why can't he just be the bomb ass Dumbledore we know and love? The one that knows all and that is filled with so much wisdom he could make you sick with it. I just can't see him ever loving someone that is as evil and demented as Grindelwald is.

Now, that cliffhanger. I'm siding with Nagini and her last words to Credence. "He knows what you are, not who you are." As I mentioned earlier, Grindelwald is nothing but a cult leader willing to say or do whatever he needs to in order to succeed. Right now, we don't know Grindelwald's endgame. Why is he creating an army? Does he just want to be in control of the world? I think he just needs Credence for the same reason that Dumbledore needed Newt. The blood bond kept them from fighting each other, but Newt took that away from Grindelwald. I am positive that Dumbledore can break it. I know he will because he is going to get the elder wand from Grindelwald. (Which is also crazy because if Dumbledore loves Grindelwald, how can he kill him? Doesn't love conquer all? It did for Harry...end tangent.) Grindelwald thinks he needs Credence because he can't attack Dumbledore, and Credence is very special. Most obscurials die at a young age, but Credence hasn't. Why is that? Maybe that's part of Grindelwald's plan as well. To determine how Credence has survived so long? Don't know.

There is no possible way that Credence could actually be a Dumbledore. Albus's father was in Azkaban after attacking the muggles that attacked Ariana (Albus's sister) when she was doing magic. I'm pretty sure they don't allow visitors in Azkaban, and he didn't escape. Albus's mother was killed by Ariana when Ariana "exploded" one day. It is rumored that Ariana was also an obscurial, which occurred after her encounter with the muggles that tortured her. So, if both of the parents are dead, Dumbledore could not have another sibling, and Grindelwald specifically said brother. It is possible that Credence is Aberforth's son, making him Albus's nephew, but I don't believe this to be true either. How is it possible that Albus never knew about him? The man that knows everything, except that he didn't have a brother or nephew? Or did he know and just kept it a secret for years and years including through Harry's time at Hogwarts? I don't think it's possible, but I'm very excited to see where this all goes. I'd also love to hear other theories or debate mine, so please don't hold back! Fantastic Beasts 3 cannot come soon enough!

Overlord

True historical events meet the living dead in Overlord. The night before D-Day, American paratroopers drop into France to destroy a radio transmitter atop a fortified church. The task already seems impossible, but when they find what lies beneath the church, the mission goes from impossible to a death wish. With the help of a female villager, the remaining paratroopers fight for survival and face a nightmare they never thought possible.

So this review is coming out a bit late since I don't think you can still see Overlord in theaters, but you can use this for Netflix or if you think you might buy the DVD. I really enjoyed this movie. It is fast-paced and full of twists and turns. It starts a bit slow and you're not really sure where this movie is taking you, but J.J. Abrams does not let us down on this action, horror.

If you are big into zombies and historical films, this one is definitely for you. I liked the twist to the true events. American troops really did drop into Nazi-France the night before D-Day to take out radio towers. They didn't meet zombies along the way, but it is an interesting idea. Who ever thought to bring zombies into WWII?! Oh, and if you like gory films, this is definitely your movie. I was pretty grossed out, but I hate gore. I had to hide my eyes on more than one occasion.

At just under two hours, this is one of the longer zombie movies I can remember. I never felt like I was bored and needed it to end though. There's a lot going on at all times and I think it moved along pretty smoothly. Jovan Adepo that plays the lead (character named Boyce), does a great job at keeping you entertained. I think he did this role justice, and I hope we see more of him in other movies. (He does a lot of TV shows, not as many movies.) IMDb rates this one at a 7.1/10 and Rotten Tomatoes is at a 76% audience score, which is very good for both. I agree with the ratings, and I would see this one again.