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Trailer Review - Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindlewald

A Welcome Return to Hogwarts

By M W RPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
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Another San Diego Comic Con has come and gone, and with that, we have now been treated to a number of trailers to some of the most exciting and highly-anticipated upcoming releases. One of these, was a second trailer for the upcoming Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them sequel.

It is hard to judge this series as an independent series, given that Harry Potter is, in my opinion, such a perfect franchise. The first film attempted to distance itself from that franchise by taking place in America and teaching us the mannerisms of American witches and wizards. Whilst it was definitely interesting to see the differences between witches and wizards from across the globe, the film did feel like it had abandoned a large part of what makes Harry Potter so special; the magical castle of Hogwarts.

The very first scene of this new trailer goes a long way in correcting this, in which we see a young Newt learning the riddikulus spell to ward off dementors, similarly to how Harry Potter learnt the same spell in the Prisoner of Azkaban. What makes this different then? The man teaching him is none other than the man who made beards cool, Professor Dumbledore, played by franchise newcomer Jude Law. Not only is this a welcome return to familiar ground for the wizarding world, but also it teases the beginning of an exciting and complicated relationship between Dumbledore and the film's big bad, Grindlewald. This is very cleverly hinted at through the shot of Dumbledore stood in front of the Mirror of Erised, the mirror that casts an image of what the person looking into it most desires. And what does Dumbledore see? Grindlewald. This sets the franchise up for a very interesting dynamic, and one that I am excited to see.

The trailer then shows us all the returning characters from the first; Newt, Tina, Queenie and my personal favourite Jacob Kowalski. The inclusion of a muggle being constantly amazed by the world of magic was a brilliant decision and quite possibly my favourite aspect of the first film. We also see a number of new, magical creatures which I was not expecting. Although this film maintains the 'Fantastic Beasts' title, I assumed this was simply to avoid confusion as the story would now move away from Newt's briefcase of beasts. Yet, this trailer proves my theory wrong as apparently a new array of magical creatures, including the return of the adorable Niffler who wreaked so much havoc in the first film. How they will be involved in the fight against Grindlewald is unclear, but if I had to guess I would say that they will reward Newt's faith in them in one way or another.

Another interesting aspect of the trailer involves Leta Lestrange, a character with a minor role in the first film. Obviously she is an early relative of Bellatrix Lestrange, but so far it is unclear if she will share Bellatrix's love of chaos. The trailer hints at a relationship between her and Newt, and paired with the first trailer, it seems very possible that these two were once together and fell apart. With the Lestrange's involved as another nod to the Harry Potter franchise, it seems that this film will go beyond the first film and begin to link the two franchises, making this more than simply a spin-off.

Ezra Miller is one of my favourite young actors, however, I was not expecting Credence to return after his apparent death at the climax of the first film. To me his character was one of the most developed within the first film, a young man at turmoil, struggling to do the right thing despite his unpleasant circumstances. In addition to this, I am surprised that Jon Voight, according to IMDB at least, will not be returning for the sequel, as his plot within the first film felt unfinished and I expected his character's relevance to become clear within this film.

Finally, in terms of plot, it seems as if this film will be stronger than the first. With Grindlewald now established as the franchises answer to Voldermort, he seems set to wage war against the muggles due to his belief that the magical community is superior and should hide in the shadows no more. Overall, this trailer has made me very excited for the future of this franchise and I expect this film to be an improvement on the first.

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M W R

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