I think it's quite appropriate to say this on the centennial of restoration of Polish independence: we should make English a second official language, because it's ridiculous that there are no English language showings on the 16th. All dubbed shit for uneducated barbarians.

 

So has anyone else of you seen it yet and what are your thoughts on the movie?
I'm still collecting my thoughts on it, but my first impression is that it will most likely be, maybe not loved, but atleast liked by fans of the Wizarding world, but it also requires you to have seen fantastic beasts 1 for some of the plot to make sense. On the other hand it's not really a great movie for the casual movie goer who aren't really interested in the Wizarding World nor remember much from the first one. The plot is kind of convoluted, but to someone who still remember fantastic beasts 1 it should make sense, atleast most of it should. I might do a small review later or tommorrow (mostly it would be my highly subjective likes and dislikes, since I'm not a good reviewer of anything).

 

The "twist" on a certain character is completely bonkers. I feel like I missed something.

 

That's fucked up. Not even one 2D screening with Polish subs per week?

I'm going to watch it Friday afternoon. I think I'm more excited for the Spider-Man animated film tho, ha.

 

Found a proper eng audio screening. One--ONE--of the cinemas in the city offers it on Friday, so I've got my ticket. But it's empty. I was the fifth ticket booked for it. Everyone's flocking to the dubbed shows, it seems. Well, as much as there's interest in FB in Poland anyway.

Pretty disappointed though, because the place I usually go to is a 15 min walk from my flat.

 

Thought I should book a ticket early to see the movie on Friday, checked the 2D english audio screening - out of 220 seats, one is already booked. I don't think people are hyped for this movie in Poland. The first dubbed screening has 0 seats booked. Even though I prefer watching movies alone, it's still kind of sad.

 

Do you guys see it flopping?

 

No, not even close. It's gonna be awesome.





*Buries memories of The Last Jedi.*

 

Just saw it, while it had many flaws still thought the actual story and content was pretty awesome.

The editing is a mess it's sometimes hard to tell what it is happeing and it's jumping from scene to scene in a very jarring manner without any smooth transitions. Definitely overcrowded and too many subplots many scenes could have been cut to make more room for stuff we actually wanted to see.

However the magic was awesome it's incredibly refreshing to see some competent adults do magic, some will find it problematic since the magic in general seems to be kind of beefed up in FB it feels like Grindelwald would wipe the floor with LV. The special effects were also pretty good even the cats who looked awful in the trailer weren't bad.

Grindelwald was awesome Depp was pretty great the best part of the movie without a doubt eventhough for a movie called Crimes of Grindelwald he didn't commit that many. Jude Law was great definitely captures that twinkle from Dumbledore so it's real shame that Dumbledore has almost nothing to do and almost no screentime.

Leta was by far the best addition she has a interesting backstory and cool personality all the other new characters are completely forgettable Nagini, Theseus, Flamel etc. do almost nothing but waste your time hope they get fleshed out a bit in the sequels when JK doesn't cramm everything into one movie. The core group from the first movie doesn't get really fleshed out I still don't give a crap about Tina, Jacob is just ok, Newt is cool but we don't really get more insight or much development from him and Credence also doesn't do that much.

Their are also some pretty juicy twists in the movie especially the ending. All HP fans should definitely check it out it's not amazing like the trailer made it look like but still pretty awesome with potentially amazing future installements.

But I can see many casual audiences disliking this one it will probably leave many scratching their head what the hell happend and who all these charactes are and why they are important.

Spoiler: Heavy movie spoilers

Credence isn't actually a Lestrange but supposedly Dumbledores brother called Aurelius, it's possible that Grindelwald only lies to Credence to have a weapon against Dumbledore but I don't think they can pull another identity twist so it seems like the real deal. He also gets a phoenix, supposedly Fawkes at the end who will only go to a Dumbledore in times of need.

Besides Grindelwald thinks Credence is his only chance of besting Dumbledore and if he really is his brother, I don't see Dumbledore being able to fight him. No matter how powerful he is, he is still untrained so I hope he can't challenge a Legend like Dumbledore in a duell anytime soon.

Dumbledore and Grindelwald also made a bloodpact in their youth so they couldn't fight each other. Newt got Grindelwalds pendant with the blood so hopefully the next one will have a far more active Dumbledore.

 

Agreed with pretty everything you said, it was a good movie. But I do think that the big twist is gonna divisive and what can ultimately be what breaks the film in some people's eyes. But other than that, the magic was amazing, especially the fact that we didn't get beams of light dueling like in the HP and to a certain extent in the first FB movie. And Johnny Depp was great in his role, I certainly felt his charisma. I especially like that they showed off his powers in this one and we finally see that noone but Dumbledore can defeat him. I think it's going to be somewhat divisive in the fandom, I've already seen people calling it the Cursed Child v2.0, but I personally liked it, despite it's flaws. But I don't think this is a good movie for the casual movie goer, the plot can be somewhat convoluted at times, too many characters, too much happening at the same time, characters not fleshed out enough, most of the new characters are ultimately forgettable and inconsequential to the plot.

 

Yeah the twist will definitely divide the fanbase, I personally really liked it since it could open up interesting potential storylines and it's creating anticipation for the next one.

We still need more information how it is even possible and some good explanations but I think many people will jump on it like sharks to bash JK like the Nagini controversy and Dumbledore not being gay enough crap without actually seeing it or having any solid info.

 

You're probably right about that, I'm not a fan of it, but if they angle it right in future films, then I don't see why it wouldn't work. But as it is, it sort of comes out of nowhere and at first glance it goes against canon

Spoiler

in the same way the Professor McGonagall thing does. She is afterall in canon supposed not have been born yet, and her inclusion just seems like fanservice for the sake of fanservice, not that it's always a problem, but in this case I don't like it.
But for the big twist there has to be more to it than what Grindelwald claims, I don't buy what he's selling and he certainly showed in the movie that he is very capable at manipulating people, but it will be fun to see what they come up with in future installations.

 

Okay yeah I'm staying the fuck out of this thread until I see it. Chat ya.

 

Just got back from the movie theatre.

I'm not good at writing reviews, I don't know shit about cinematography, all I do is judge a movie by how the experience as a whole felt. I loved it, but it was in no way perfect.

The constant zooming in on a character's faces annoyed me a bit, especially with how Newt always seems to be uncomfortable when talking to people(which I understand is part of his character)

The magic was bumped up to 11 and I felt like a kid again and that made me really happy.

A lot of exposition through dialogue in a part of the movie that threw me off a bit.

I'll go over more of it once the thread gets going ( and after I process all that happened in my head)

 

Magic was the best in any Harry Potter movie.

Story was, messy, far to many plots. I literally couldn’t follow the last 20 minutes. Who is what with who? And fake what?

Twist was stupid and I’m sure is a bluff.

6/10

 

Hahaha you haven't been following JKR lately have you.

 

"I am Head of Magical Law Enforcement, I can do what I want!"

Yeah - when Rowling promised an explanation as to how Ministry officials could apparate at Hogwarts despite Pottermore saying that's always been impossible on school grounds, (unless they are temporarily lifted by the head of the school), I'd expect it'd be a good one.

Like - the Headmaster complying to a demand to temporarily undoing the anti-apparition spell so they could arrive at the school to question Dumbledore.

And since when has the Ministry of Magic the authority to tell Dumbledore that he can't teach DADA? The decision of who teaches at Hogwarts and what they teach is up to the headmaster, insofar that Dumbledore haven't been found guilty of conspiracy by the Wizengamot. In which case, of course, Dumbledore wouldn't be at Hogwarts under surveillance, he'd be locked up. Now, if Torquil Travers had placed those shackle-like things on Dumbledore's arms and then left, and we later learned that he had put pressure on the Hogwarts Board of Governors to issue a demand for the headmaster of the day to disallow Dumbledore to teach that subject, that'd be a different matter entirely.

Also, weren't MACUSA referred to as the "American Ministry of Magic"?

Did Rowling just stop paying attention to her own canon?

 

I went to see The Crimes of Grindelwald last night, and after some reflection, here are my thoughts. (Spoilers for the whole film, obviously.)

Spoiler

1. The screenplay is not very good. It looks like they simply filmed the first draft, with all the baggage that comes with it. There was far too much going on in this film. Too many characters (if hey don’t have some grander plans for him moving forward, Flamel was completely and utterly wasted), too many subplots, and a convoluted storyline was the result. In addition to that, the most interesting storyline of the lot – Grindelwald‘s "seduction" of Queenie – was rushed through in 2 1/2 scenes. I like the somewhat risky direction they‘re taking with her character, and I wouldn‘t be surprised if they filmed more for her and later scrapped it because the film was getting too long anyways. In fact, I’d be disappointed if they didn‘t.
2. The retcons. Oh, for the love of Merlin, the retcons. The ridiculous blood pact between Dumbledore and Grindelwald is, in my opinion, the worst offender of the lot. It’s a weak attempt at trying to make a storyline interesting that, ultimately, we know almost everything relevant about from the original books. That is closely followed by the McGonagall shenanigans, Dumbledore‘s apparently quite exhaustive stint as DADA teacher and Nagini, which, surprisingly, didn‘t bother me as much as I thought it would – until the very end. Is she on Team Dumbledore now? Is there an elaborate plan of hers to try to get to Credence on the coattails of people more powerful than her?
3. Technical deficiencies. The whole carriage scene was far too dark and confusing. It was probably what they were going for, but they clearly overshot the mark on that one. In addition to that, the first quarter or so of the film is full of people mumbling their way through their lines, and it was incredibly hard to make out what was going on. This is not just my opinion, by the way, I had multiple very proficient English speakers with me and they all said the same thing.
4. The attire of the British wizards. Are the filmmakers trying to tell us that ministry workers, including aurors, were wearing tailor-made suits and vests in the late 1920s and just happened to regress towards robes by the time the 1990s came calling? I really like the style, and I can very well imagine that it‘s used simply as a device to differentiate the Potter films from the Fantastic Beasts franchise, but the internal inconsistency still gives me a headache.
5. Speaking of headaches… the big one. The reveal at the end. Aurelius Dumbledore. The idealistic part of me doesn’t believe a word of what Grindelwald told Credence beyond his real name (and maybe not even that), simply because of the implausibility of the dates. Is he really a long-lost brother? Is he a cousin? Is he not a Dumbledore at all? Then again… see McGonagall‘s cameo for that one. Also, what was a Dumbledore doing on a ship to America? It‘s like the discernible facts behind this twist were left so deliberately… unsupportive of the very idea, that I could very well imagine a larger game being afoot that we don‘t yet know about.
6. But enough being miserable. Despite my above-mentioned criticisms, I quite liked the Hogwarts scenes, in no small part thanks to Jude Law, whose performance I really, really enjoyed. Johnny Depp was quietly menacing, an understated performance that fits the character quite well. Not quite on Law‘s level, but certainly promising. The "Core Four" from the first film were good, and I particularly liked Dan Fogler, who was convincing as the straight man, the goofball and the heartbroken lover. Zoë Kravitz surprised me as well, I liked her acting. William Nadylam was intense. Callum Turner, on the other hand, was bland. As for the beasts, the nifflers were a delight, the Kelpie was disappointing, and the big cat/lion thingy (of which I cannot recall nor find the name) was quite amusing. Overall, not enough beasts, though.
7. Was that Fawkes?! And is Nurmengard, like, an ordinary castle now...?

All in all, a 6.5/10, because I can‘t make my mind up. 6/10 seems too low for the actual enjoyment I drew out of the film, but 7/10 seems to high for its obvious flaws.

 

Fashion changes. There are certain trends that are decades old coming back now in our world. I honestly prefer this explanation rather than wizards always wearing robes for decades/centuries.

 

Much like the first one it was ok, but the high points were far higher (Grindelboss fuck yeah), and the lows were sooo low (stupid twist). The editing was indeed really sloppy at times, some scenes felt like there was nothing connecting them and it was just franksteined together, other parts were just confusing.

Spoiler

Loved the aestethics, each ministry felt unique in their own way. Although the French magical district looked quite.. boring once they tore down the circus, nothing that when trying to recall it that stood out. Some of the costumes were cool, and some were so incredibly.. muggle. Still disappointed with the lack of robes, some of the costumes had some extra flair that stood out like Grindelwald and Rosier but then to contrast that Dumbledore (and all the british wizards for that matter) looked so boring he might as well have stepped out of period drama about an accountant.

Dumbledore is even now regarded as the greatest wizard alive and the only one who stands a chance against Grindelwald despite having nothing to his name except a distinguished career as a school teacher and some cool research projects, does academic prowess really translate that well to fighting? The ministry falls all over themselves in the line to polish his balls only to turn around and then treat him like shit when he says no, nice to know that even back then the legal system basically consisted of what the most senior ministry worker in the immediate vicinity felt like. They pretty much put him on house arrest out of spite.

Surprised his connection to Grindelwald was known to the ministry, I had assumed that was something that wasn't revealed to the world until Skeeter put out her book.

Grindelwald and his inner circle were fucking brutal; we need some place to stay for a few days, lets walk into this muggle apartment and kill the whole family, baby included. Really underlined what a magnificent bastard he is when he later talks about ruling the muggles for their own good and that he doesn't hate them when he kills them as casually as one might an ant.

Speaking of Grindelwald and his motivations, A magical fucking bong made out of a human skull that functions like a pensieve/prophecy home theater system was so fucking baller holy shit. And as if that wasn't enough he had carved 'For the greater good' into the forehead, Jesus Christ I love everything about Grindelwald, Voldemort wishes he had even a tenth of his charisma. Now I'm only speculating but his whole motivation and goal would make sense if he's been having visions about WW2, the holocaust and the atom bomb since childhood, having that shit in his head growing up it makes sense that he feels like it's his duty to enslave the muggle world before they destroy everything. It'll be interesting to see what he does when WW2 does start up, is he gonna have a direct hand in that war to ensure that the muggles kill each other in as large numbers as possible or is he gonna stay out of it? Not sure what I'd prefer, Imperiused!Hitler is a really tired fanfiction trope but it'd make alot of sense if some of the axis leaders were under Grindelwalds control for the sole purpose of thinning the numbers of the muggles.

Grindelwald's power was what I was hoping for, dude can take on 20+ aurors no problem without breaking a sweat and basically brainwash anyone he meets. In 3 months he had turned the entire prison population and the warden without one bit of wand-magic. And he really fucking likes Fiendfyre, I recall that in the first movie he blasted 5 aurors into dust in the opening and in this one he torched 4 times that number in the finale with as much effort as Harry puts into a levitation charm, and he can control it to such an extent that it doesn't harm his followers and even fries those disguising themselves as such. Fuck yeah.

Grindelwald can make Phoenixes out of pigeons?

The escape scene was kinda confusing, where'd the Elder Wand come from and why does Grindelwald still have mastery over it? I guess it only counts if he's defeated holding the wand and not if he's got a it stashed in a box somewhere.

The blood-pact doesn't bother me all that much, it does neatly tie up why Dumbledore let Grindelwald run rampant for 15 years and only acted through intermediaries before he confronted him, instead of having it all be Dumbledore not having the stomach to fight a former friend.

Flamel was wasted, felt like they could have done so much more with him instead of just having him play magical GPS and then show up in the end and tell them to cast a finite into the ground(?). Not sure how I feel about his frailty, on one hand it'd be cool if he was a bit more active and had an opportunity to showcase what 600 hundred years of duelling experience looks like but on the other it seems kinda fitting that immortality isn't natural and that even the elixir of life won't halt your aging, and that not every talented wizard is a guaranteed asskicker. I believe he said something about not having fought a war in 200 years? so early 18th century? That'd be right after the statute of secrecy was put into effect but as far as major conflicts in Europe are concerned there are 3 that stand out, The Great Northern War, The War of Spanish Succession and the War of Austrian Succession. Unless he meant like a duel or something, can't recall the exact line..

Hopefully Perenelle shows up in the sequels.

The Lestrange mess was indeed a mess and probably worked alot better in writing where you can jump back a paragraph or two and really take it in, in the movie it was just all dumped in our laps and before we even had time to digest it we jumped into the finale.

Leta was alot better than expected and had a good send-off, this will really up the stakes and I can't wait to see the Scamanders meeting Grindelwald again.

Queenie.. airheads gonna airhead I guess, then again it's hard to fault her considering her OP Legilimency basically drives her nuts and makes her ridiculously emotional. But it feels like they pulled an Anakin, she was turned way too easily and it feels like her whole plot was a non issue. "Oh no magicals and no-majs can't marry in MACUSA, why don't we move to Britain and marry there where it's legal? We'll even consider it but we won't because reasons so I'm gonna join up with the known muggle-killer in hopes for a just world".

Tina was quite forgettable, hopefully that'll ramp up now that her sister is on the opposing side in the war.

Humans and house-elves can breed? Is there nothing a wizard won't fuck?

McGonagall retcon doesn't bother me that much other than the blatant fanservice, it's like Rowling doesn't think the movies can stand on their own and need constant reminders of their connection to the Harry Potter movies.

Nagini was pointless fanservice, wouldn't have made one lick of difference if she was just a random squib/muggleborn/pureblood or even muggle, she exists solely so the audience can say "Ohhh I remember the snake".

Credence Barebone is Aurelius Dumbledore.. I thought Rowling not knowing how to count was a half-trope/meme but I no longer know what to think, he's got to be atleast 30 years younger than the rest of the siblings so how the fuck is this supposed to make sense? And how did he end up across the atlantic? More Cursed Child timetravel bullshit? He's slowly turning into a overpowered wish-fulfilment fantasy straight out of the barely recommended section. He's got a mysterious past, his own Phoenix, part of a prophecy that will change the world, the only obscurial in history to survive into adulthood granting him enourmous power but atleast it was barely controlled and that was all he had but now it turns out he can fully control it and that he can use a wand too and blast mountains into rubble DBZ style. Oh and his family threw him away too, this is straight out of the most basic !WrongBoyWhoLived tropes. What the fuck are you doing Rowling?