Newt Scamander And The Exposition Of Doom

“You’re too good, Newt. You never met a monster you couldn’t love.” ~ Leta Lestrange

“Their arrogance is a key to our victory.” ~ Grindelwald

“I can’t move against Grindelwald. It has to be you. In your shoes I’d probably refuse to.” ~ Albus Dumbledore

“You want me to hunt him down? To kill him?” ~ Newt Scamander

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald is the second chapter in a five film series that predates the Harry Potter franchise by decades and follows an unassuming young wizard through misadventures and the rise of darkness. Following the world building first film and taking off from its ending, this film falters a bit and spends time in heavy exposition. It also brings back a familiar name from the original films, in a younger body played by a new actor, while reuniting cast members from the original. Director David Yates returns, while the creator of this magical world, J.K. Rowling, again provides the screenplay.

In 1927, a year after the capture of the dark wizard Grindelwald (Johnny Depp), who had spent the events of the previous film impersonating another character, the man himself is being held prisoner by the Magical Congress of the United States of America. When we’re catching up to him as the film starts, he’s looking like Billy Idol on a bad day. About to be transferred to Britain, he escapes with the aid of one of his followers, with his own plans for the future yet to unfold. As he’s the villain of the series, none of those are good.

Three months later, Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) finds his path crossing with familiar faces- witch sisters Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston) and Queenie Goldstein (Alison Sudol), the Muggle and comic relief Yank of the first film Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler), his own brother Theseus Scamander (Callum Turner) and Leta Lestrange (Zoe Kravitz), Theseus’ fiancée, with whom Newt has a complicated past. Add in Hogwarts professor Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law, making his debut in the role) and the return of the wild card character Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller), and the story takes the characters into Europe and an inevitable confrontation with Billy Idol… I mean, Grindelwald.

Already before the first film came out, there was talk of a trilogy, and then a five film series. David Yates, who’d had a hand in the Harry Potter franchise, directing the last half of the eight films, signed on for the first two films of this series (plus whatever’s to come). J.K. Rowling, who created the boy wizard in her novels and name dropped the Fantastic Beasts book as a textbook at Hogwart’s, was behind the development of the Fantastic Beasts film franchise, writing both scripts. The first film, which took the action out of Britain and into North America, takes things in another geographic setting this time out, with much of the action set in Paris.

The script does tend to delve too much into expository dialogue and the world building of sequels beyond this, which does end up being the weakness in the film. But it does fit into the previously established Potterverse, which nods of what’s to come- Grindelwald being something of a precursor to the darker threat that is Voldemort, the names of families with deep ties to magic, and even a character who shifts from human to snake and will one day be cursed to remain in snake form- a snake already established as Voldemort’s companion.

Where the previous film took a certain glee in presenting unusual beasts of the magical sort, this film deals less with such critters (mostly confining appearances to a magical circus of sorts run by a thoroughly unpleasant wizard) and more with the growing threat of a dark wizard with ambitions and the tensions between wizard and Muggle dynamics. With these, there is the difference of two approaches: a set in our way official government policy of wizards and witches staying away from Muggles, while the dynamic Grindelwald seeks is supremacy over the world for magic.

Filming was done in Britain and France, part of that in studio, other parts on location, with extensive work involving CGI and physical effects, already well established through the previous films and the Potter franchise. So the sight of magical spells being unleashed in small or big ways is familiar to our eyes, and handled well. Yates is, as noted, well familiar with this magical world through his previous work, and the pace of the film only falters when the story calls for expository dialogue and some of that sequel setting up. I do like how Yates makes full use of Paris as the movie’s action goes there. Also welcome is the return of composer James Newton Howard, who composed the score for the previous film and returns for this one, building on what has come before.

The cast, returning players and new, are of course well selected, the strength of the film. Johnny Depp has spent too much time as eccentrics in his choices of film roles in recent years, and his personal life has been something of a mess. He dials down the eccentricity in playing Grindelwald, a character he debuted in the first film as a cameo appearance. His take on the character is a mix of ambition, charm, and malevolence, a dark wizard for whom the ends justifies the means. He believes in wizard supremacy, and his actions are driven by that.

Albus Dumbledore has already been played by three actors in the Harry Potter series. Richard Harris debuted the wise headmaster of Hogwarts in the first two films, with Michael Gambon taking the role after the death of his predecessor. Toby Regbo played a younger Dumbledore in flashbacks in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part One, and returns in flashbacks as the character this time out as well. Now Jude Law takes the part of a young Dumbledore, decades before the older but spry headmaster we first met, but a bright professor at Hogwarts in his own right. His Dumbledore is a bright and highly respected academic and wizard, protective of students, with a principled character and a quiet strength. He plays his cards close to the vest though- a broken bond with Grindelwald from teenaged years is hinted at, as well as the reasons he cannot intervene personally in the hunt for the criminal. Law plays the character’s integrity, loyalty, and resolve in a way that fits in naturally with the Harris and Gambon takes on the character.

Ezra Miller returns as Credence, the abused and disturbed young magician we met in the first film, who was apparently destroyed, but not quite. Here he continues to be a wild card in the mix, unstable and caught between two sides of a growing rift in the world of magic. On the one hand he makes a connection with a fellow misfit, one that might point him to a different path, and on the other is a continuation towards the wrong way. The character is also the subject of a twist before it’s all said and done, and the actor plays to that. Claudia Kim plays Nagini- a familiar name to Potter fans, and she’s the other misfit in question. She’s the main feature of a magical circus, a woman who’s a Maledictus- capable of changing into an animal, in this case a big snake. But she’s also under a blood curse, knowing that one day the change will be permanent, and she won’t come back to herself. Fated to one day be the serpentine companion and Horcrux of Voldemort, Nagini is more sympathetic than you might expect, which the actress bases her performance on, and ultimately tragic when you know where her final fate will lie.

William Nadylam turns up as a French-Senegalese wizard, Yusuf Kama, who has his own reasons to be looking for Credence, and who gets caught up in unfolding events. The actor gives the role a steadfast quality, playing his cards close to the vest. Callum Turner debuts as Theseus Scamander, Newt’s older brother, an Auror and wizard who happens to be a World War veteran, a hero in and of his own right. The two brothers get along, even if they don’t quite understand each other, and even if Newt might feel a bit overshadowed in his presence. There’s also the issue of Leta. Zoe Kravitz plays the part, and there’s a previous bond between she and Newt, but now she’s engaged to Theseus (this would, of course, make get togethers a bit awkward. Given that she’s from the pure blood Lestrange family, well established in the Potter books as on the dark side of things in the ways of magic, Leta is complicated, and you’re never quite sure of where her loyalties lie, but it makes her a compelling character to watch.

Jacob Kowalski served as comic relief in the first film, something that actor Dan Fogler played to in his performance. The character, a human with no awareness that wizards and witches were in the world, is a World War One veteran and bakery owner who crossed paths with Newt in the first path, found himself faced with the astonishing, and managed to survive the film. While the previous film ended with a memory spell cast to wipe the memory of New Yorkers about the events of that film, it didn’t quite happen with Jacob, who gets caught up in things again, particularly with the woman he’s fallen for in the mix.

Queenie Goldstein is once again played by Alison Gudol. A witch with a vivacious, friendly, and outgoing personality, there was a spark between she and Jacob which has persisted (despite knowing she’s violating a rule about not having relationships with non-magical people). The actress continues to play that aspect of the character, as well as the divided loyalties she’s feeling between the world of magic she knows and the man she’s come to love.

Katherine Waterston returns as Queenie’s sister Tina. An auror after the events of the previous film, she’s on a quest of her own in Paris, and the actress plays her as determined and headstrong, courageous in the face of danger. It helps that there’s a good spark between her character and Newt. She’s sensible, down to earth, and likable, which are all good qualities in a leading character.

The first time I saw Eddie Redmayne in anything, it was a supporting role in Les Miserables (aka two and a half hours of Why Won’t These People Stop Singing). I disliked the character and the performance, but as noted in my review of the previous Fantastic Beasts, that viewpoint was likely influenced by my dislike for musicals in general. I liked his work in the previous film, and that status quo remains in place here. Newt is a soft spoken, shy sort who doesn’t particularly want to get involved, who’d like to stay neutral and just do his thing, but who rises to the occasion and comes into his own. He does the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do (if only more people had that quality), and that’s something to respect in a character. Newt might have a disregard for following orders, which he shows repeatedly, but he’s the sort of character you can count on in a crisis, and that’s what Redmayne plays to.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald doesn’t have the same energy as the first film, which brought a new dynamic to the world of magic J.K. Rowling created. The script tends to wander a bit too much into exposition and setting the stage for sequels. But the cast more than compensates for that issue, playing their roles with energy and conviction. What happens next is yet to be seen, but it’s not likely to involve Gellart “Billy Idol” Grindelwald singing Rebel Yell at midnight to a bunch of Muggles. 

Chasing After Those Pesky Erumpents

“My philosophy is if you worry, you suffer twice.” ~ Newt Scamander

“Mr. Scamander, do you know anything about the wizarding community in America? We don’t like things loose.” ~ Porpentina Goldstein

“So you’re the guy with the case full of monsters, huh?” ~ Gnarlack

“What did you do today, Jacob? I was inside a suitcase.” ~ Jacob Kowalski

“There’s strange things going  on all over the city. People behind this are not like you and me. There’s a hidden society. It goes back centuries.” ~ Mary Lou Barebone

“We live in the shadows for too long.” ~ Percival Graves

When J.K. Rowling finished her series about that boy wizard with the lightning scar and the two best friends with Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows, she said that was the end of the line for her with that world, and so moved on to other literary genres, both under her own name and under a penname. And yet the world of Potter kept drawing her back time and again, whether it was tidbits of information at her site, or the more recent stage play that she’s had a hand in. And then there is the new movie Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, the first of several to come, set decades before the Potter film adaptations, and featuring familiar elements in a new context and setting. The film is directed by David Yates, who has a whole lot of experience in this area, having had directed the last four of the Potter films.

In 1926, we meet the young wizard Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), who’s stopping in New York City on his way west. This is a New York not quite our own, as it features those who warn against witches and wizards (which, admittedly, might have been going on two or three centuries earlier in those parts, but not in the Jazz Age). A chance encounter leads to misplaced suitcases with what we’d call a Muggle, but what in America is called a No-Maj, Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler). The two men mistakenly take the other’s suitcases, which touches off a storm of chaos in the Big Apple when several creatures escape from Newt’s suitcase.

Rowling wrote the screenplay for this, delving deep into the background of the Potter verse and bringing out something new along the way. The title is actually taken from a textbook mentioned in the Potter books- one that Rowling later published as a false document- and Newt is derived from that back story, something of an odd and awkward fellow who comes into his own. Rowling very much sets the story in the Potter verse, with references and name drops along the way including Hogwarts, Dumbledore, and the Lestrange family, while taking things in a new direction by setting the action in America. This first film, slated to be the first of five, does feel a bit like an exercise in world building- we see the magical world decades earlier than what we were first introduced to in Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone, and the magical bureaucracy of America is different than what we’ve seen in the British Ministry of Magic, though there are some similarities.

The story weaves in themes of friendship, different worlds, and intolerance- best personified in the New Salem Philanthropic Society, a group that certainly comes across as extreme in their ways, seeing no particular wrong in killing witches or wizards, let alone being abusive towards children. The latter is a nod of sorts to the Dursley’s general poor treatment of Harry Potter, though comparatively speaking, the narrow minded Mary Lou Barebone (Samantha Morton) is much worse. Family is also a theme running through the film, with a sharp contrast between the harsh Mary Lou, who mistreats her children, and the close relationship between the magical Goldstein sisters

Yates, having had handled the last four of the Potter films, is back in familiar territory with this, returning to the magical world  for a jaunt back in time. That includes the rules of the Potter world in terms of magic, the intrigues and tell tales that hint at what’s to come. And he handles it very well, taking the world of magic and bringing it face to face with New York and the unfolding jazz era. I like the way he brings that jazz era back to life- while meshing it with witches, wizards, and strange creatures, perhaps most perfectly colliding in one character, the sardonic goblin Gnarlack, who strides in both worlds, also running a speakeasy (and voiced by the ideal Ron Perlman).

The special effects crew do their part in bringing that world to life and making it feel like it’s right there with New York in the era, something that was done here and there in the Potter films with scenes set squarely in the Muggle world. The creatures are indeed fantastic, and strange, and do seem to occupy the space with the actors and landscape, which of course is essential in this kind of story- we’re a long way from Ray Harryhausen’s era of effects. One of my personal favourite composers, James Newton Howard, composes the score for the film. He’s a newcomer to this magical world, and yet makes the score his own, offering hints of the Potter themes before taking things entirely in new directions.

The Potter films were blessed with a wealth of great casting, and the same applies here, given that so many of the franchise’s senior creative personnel are involved again in the production. Samantha Morton, who’s done a mix of independent and big  feature films on both sides of the Atlantic, gets to play a character we dislike, the narrow minded abusive Mary Lou, a normal human with a dark agenda of her own. Ezra Miller plays her adopted son Credence, who harbours secrets and mysteries about himself that unfold as the film plays out.

Colin Farrell has seemed to be absent from films for a good long while, or maybe he’s just been doing films I haven’t been aware of. It’s good to see him back again, in a role that requires him to play the character with different nuances. Percival Graves is an auror, a sort of magical policeman with little humour or patience, it seems, and yet there’s something else under the surface, something that the actor plays around with as the story goes along. There’s a brief appearance by Johnny Depp as well, playing Gellert Grindlewald, a character referenced in the Potter books as a dark wizard, and a malevolent threat yet to come. His appearance here is a hint of  what the actor can do with him, and a worthy villain.

Dan Fogler gets the comic relief buddy role of Jacob Kowalski, and I like what he does with it. Here we have an ordinary man, an aspiring baker who’s thrown into the world of magic, something he had no idea even existed, by a trick of fate, and he seems to thrive in it despite everything. The actor brings a rich sense of humour to the role, and I couldn’t help but like the character.

Alison Sudol plays Queenie Goldstein, a bombshell as well as a witch, whose speciality tends to lean towards magical telepathy. In the hands of another character,  that skill could be dangerous, but Queenie is a big hearted witch, a free spirit with a good heart. She has surprisingly good chemistry with Jacob.

Her sister Porpentina is played by Katherine Waterston, and the actress gets a good role to play. Demoted previously despite her best efforts, she’s eager to get back into the good graces of her bosses. She’s down to earth and sensible, loyal and strong willed, and finds herself pulled between doing the right thing and serving her own career ambitions. The actress has good chemistry with her leading man, and ultimately I’d like to see where things go.

Which brings us to the surprise. Eddie Redmayne’s been busy soaking up Oscar glory and all sorts of accolades, but the only film I’d previously seen him in was that wretched musical version of Les Miserables, which I hated, and I remember particularly disliking his take on Marius, to the point where I wanted someone to strangle him. To be fair though, I was probably heavily influenced by that dislike of musicals thing that I have. Here I like what he does with Newt, an awkward sort of fellow, seemingly outcast in the world, but one who proves to come into his own in an unusual situation and rise to the occasion. He’s resourceful and quick to move, soft spoken but ultimately courageous, and Redmayne gives the character a deft, human touch that makes the audience like the character. Where things go for him from here is a question we’ll have to wait and see.

Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them may be an ungainly title for a movie, but the film itself is fun, bringing back the tone of the Potter films, where magic exists quietly in secret alongside the ordinary world. It gives us a likeable protagonist, a hint of a formidable villain, and a strong cast that invest their performances with humour and humanity. While it might spend time world building and self referencing itself, the film makes me want to see more of what’s to come.