111 - Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

The second Fantastic Beasts film, J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter spin-off series, has numerous pleasures, but makes it hard to appreciate them thanks to a pointlessly convoluted plot and unimaginative character goals. Jude Law stands out, bringing a calm control and gravity to Dumbledore, and Eddie Redmayne, while typically a little irritating, is cast well in the role of a near-autistic, nerdy zoologist who connects far better with animals than people. The question of who the film is aimed at is an interesting one - the animal designs and elements of performance are quite cartoony and broad, and the film as a whole is borne of a world-renowned children's fantasy series, but in this film alone two infants die, and there's almost no levity to be found anywhere. Certainly, as a middle child of a forthcoming five-part series (how!?), it's a bit of a holding pattern, interested primarily in making situations worse so as to provide the foundation for future triumphs. Two of the film's love stories provide food for thought; one a bizarre love spell story that, upon the charm being broken, attempts to cast the enchantress - or as we think of her, rapist - as the victim; the other a subtle, quiet, but clear gay romance between Dumbledore and Johnny Depp's Grindelwald. We disagree on the film's visual qualities - Mike finds beauty in some shots but more or less everything fails to arouse José - and some of its attempts as charm and humour, but despite our deep, deep reservations about the storytelling and lack of interest in the characters or plot, somehow we're still keen to see the next one. Recorded on 19th November 2018.