Crimes of Grindelwald: Fantastic or Failure?

(Warning: Contains Spoilers)

The Wizarding World has recently be reopened for Muggle eyes to view with the release of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in 2016. The cliffhanger ending left many people eager for more – a desire destined to be quenched with the sequel, Crimes of Grindelwald, that premiered just yesterday. Is this introduction to the second part of the series worth watching, however? The short answer is yes, yes it is!

From the beginning, the movie has viewers on the edge of their seat with Grindelwald’s escape from the American Ministry of Magic. The intricate way the film is set leaves nothing without explanation; everything is connected in one way or another. Something that might seem minor to the audience at first becomes monumental as the movie goes on. The tension felt between Newt and Tina radiates through the screen and into the theater and their chemistry is made evident with the actors’ brilliant use of facial expressions and tones of voice. Viewers sympathize with Dumbledore as he reveals his deep feelings for Grindelwald and his remorse at Grindelwald’s methodical manipulation of people – so convincing is his preaching that he even manages to get Queenie on his side; a shocking twist that audience members did not expect to occur.

If the movie had not gotten viewers’ attentions during its exposition up until the climax, the ending certainly did the trick. Credence, the Obscurial from the first film, is still a major character in this sequel. Throughout the movie, he struggles with his identity as he desperately attempts to unravel his past. When he heard Grindelwald’s speech at his covert meeting, Credence decided to join his efforts, as he knew Grindelwald would reveal to him everything he had longed to discover. It was after Grindelwald escaped from the rally that he told Credence his true story: that Credence is not his true name, but Aurelius Dumbledore, instead. This astounding development in the story is made incredibly tantalizing when the movie ends abruptly in a massive cliffhanger – a cliffhanger more intense than the one from the first movie. It leaves audiences members wondering just how events in the coming films will unfold now that this critical detail was added – something that they will have to wait until 2020 to find out.