I didn’t like this movie at all when it first came out but I recently rewatched it because of quarantine and my opinion of it has greatly improved. It’s not without some big flaws but I see it in a different light now.
Basically I think this movie is going to go down as the “Chamber of Secrets” of this franchise. Seems kind of dull and filled with lore but necessary in the long run to get the story moving. CoS (the book) was also seen as boring when it came out but it’s incredibly important to setting up the story. Also from what I've read, WB chopped parts of this movie up so I think a lot of it comes down to editing.
All in all, this movie is set up like an episode of a tv show and not really a movie. I think thinking of it like this helps to understand it. I get why people think it's dull but looking at it like that helps imo. The biggest problem to me is the pacing.The opening is amazing but the film just kind of plods around before really coming together very well in the third act. The rally scene is one of the best in the entire franchise. I think a lot of this falls on Yates and the editing team.
The characters are the highlight. Grindelwald is such an amazing character and Depp kills it but he’s definitely underused. I also really like Law as young Dumbledore (who’s my favorite HP character) but he’s also underused, although I understand why. Newt is my 2nd favorite character in the franchise and Jacob is also great. Leta is good but underused and Theseus is very interesting.
A couple of the criticisms I think are unfair, the But Not Too Gay one and the one about Queenie joining Grindelwald. I think the film pretty clearly spells out that Dumbledore and Grindelwald were more than friends. It’s something the former is obviously ashamed of, wouldn’t you be ashamed to admit that you were in a relationship with someone this bad and that relationship got one of your siblings killed? Frankly, it wasn’t really that ministry guy’s business anyway. There’s also the fact that foreign markets are such a big deal for movie franchises now and I think if it got too explicit about the relationship, they’d get Banned in China. It's not fair but it's the way the world works. Queenie, I think, people missed the fact that she was taken advantage of manipulated into it, thus I think the coded Jewish criticism doesn't quite hit the mark. She wasn't in her right mind and wouldn't you join someone who told you you could be with the man you love? There's plenty of people who join groups like this out of love. Also he's crazy charismatic, so much that the smartest and most powerful character in the series fell prey to him as well.
Overall, I'd give this about a 7/10. TLDR: I understand why people may find it boring but I could see it being necessarily that way and it end up being an important piece of the puzzle. Like Xilinoc said, I like the first movie a lot more but this is one leaves me more intrigued.
Overstuffed setup film with shades of greatness
I didn’t like this movie at all when it first came out but I recently rewatched it because of quarantine and my opinion of it has greatly improved. It’s not without some big flaws but I see it in a different light now. Basically I think this movie is going to go down as the “Chamber of Secrets” of this franchise. Seems kind of dull and filled with lore but necessary in the long run to get the story moving. CoS (the book) was also seen as boring when it came out but it’s incredibly important to setting up the story. Also from what I've read, WB chopped parts of this movie up so I think a lot of it comes down to editing.
All in all, this movie is set up like an episode of a tv show and not really a movie. I think thinking of it like this helps to understand it. I get why people think it's dull but looking at it like that helps imo. The biggest problem to me is the pacing.The opening is amazing but the film just kind of plods around before really coming together very well in the third act. The rally scene is one of the best in the entire franchise. I think a lot of this falls on Yates and the editing team.
The characters are the highlight. Grindelwald is such an amazing character and Depp kills it but he’s definitely underused. I also really like Law as young Dumbledore (who’s my favorite HP character) but he’s also underused, although I understand why. Newt is my 2nd favorite character in the franchise and Jacob is also great. Leta is good but underused and Theseus is very interesting.
A couple of the criticisms I think are unfair, the But Not Too Gay one and the one about Queenie joining Grindelwald. I think the film pretty clearly spells out that Dumbledore and Grindelwald were more than friends. It’s something the former is obviously ashamed of, wouldn’t you be ashamed to admit that you were in a relationship with someone this bad and that relationship got one of your siblings killed? Frankly, it wasn’t really that ministry guy’s business anyway. There’s also the fact that foreign markets are such a big deal for movie franchises now and I think if it got too explicit about the relationship, they’d get Banned in China. It's not fair but it's the way the world works. Queenie, I think, people missed the fact that she was taken advantage of manipulated into it, thus I think the coded Jewish criticism doesn't quite hit the mark. She wasn't in her right mind and wouldn't you join someone who told you you could be with the man you love? There's plenty of people who join groups like this out of love. Also he's crazy charismatic, so much that the smartest and most powerful character in the series fell prey to him as well.
Overall, I'd give this about a 7/10. TLDR: I understand why people may find it boring but I could see it being necessarily that way and it end up being an important piece of the puzzle. Like Xilinoc said, I like the first movie a lot more but this is one leaves me more intrigued.