M. Night Shyamalan pulled a fast one on me, and audiences in general, in January 2017 with his film Split. I went into it expecting to see a thriller starring James McAvoy about a guy with Dissociative Identity Disorder. I suppose the secret is out now, so I can say what I did not expect was for the film in it's closing moments to reveal itself to in fact be a sequel to M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable. I was so caught off guard, I vividly remember sitting in the theater and exclaiming (a little louder than I would've liked), "No fucking way!" Night had long teased us that he had two follow-ups to Unbreakable in mind, but so much time had passed, I figured we'd never see them. Now, a little more than 18 years after the original film, comes the concluding chapter with Glass.
Picking up roughly three weeks after the previous film, David Dunn (played by Bruce Willis) is working at his security business with his now grown son, Joseph (played by Spencer Treat Clarke). The business is largely a cover for David's continued efforts as a crime fighting vigilante, wearing a large rain slicker and hood in place of the traditional cape with Joseph as his "guy in the chair". They are on the hunt for the one known as The Hoarde (played by James McAvoy), a man with Dissociative Identity Disorder and wanted for the murder and kidnapping of a number of teenage girls including the kidnapping and attempted murder of Casey Cooke (played by Ana Taylor-Joy). Joseph has an idea where The Horde may be hiding and sure enough he's right as David winds up finding him as well as the latest batch of girls The Horde was holding prisoner. Taking down The Horde doesn't go quite as planned as they are interrupted by the police and both wind up in psychiatric care under Dr. Ellie Staple (played by Sarah Paulson). Joining them is another patient of the hospital, Elijah Price (played by Samuel L. Jackson), otherwise known as Mr. Glass. David is understandably resistant to this as the idea of introducing the brilliant but psychopathic Mr. Glass to the just plain insane The Horde has disaster written all over it. David is left with trying to figure a way out of this situation, preferably before the other two break out, something that is a matter of when rather than if.
M. Night Shyamalan picks up more or less where he left off with the prior film as he seamlessly re-integrates the characters from Unbreakable with the characters we met in Split. This film is a smaller and more introspective film than an audience accustomed to Marvel sized-super-heroics might expect, but it's important to remember the type of movie Unbreakable was when going into this movie. Shyamalan keeps things far more grounded and closer to reality than the high flying superhero fantasy we've grown accustomed to over the past 18 years. Within this, Shyamalan crafts a surprisingly satisfying conclusion to his Superhero trilogy even if it's not quite in the way I expected him to. Night has long enjoyed playing with conventions and the film definitely did not play out quite the way I thought it would. Still, I was able to appreciate how he toyed with those expectations and gave us a satisfying ending. At least I thought so, I can imagine some people may struggle with it so it will be interesting to see how it plays out with a general audience.
The performances in the film are top notch. Bruce Willis gave one of his best performances in Unbreakable and it was nice to see him return to the character of David Dunn. Again, he is able to convey so much with his character with so little. James McAvoy continues to impress playing a character with 23 distinct personalities. It was an impressive feat in Split and even more so here as he switches personalities on a dime as each one fights for dominance or "time in the light" as they refer to it. It's a stunning performance and a stand out in the film. Then there is the mastermind, Samuel L. Jackson as Mr. Glass. He just dominates every scene he is in and makes his character so compelling and impressive. You really get a sense that his mind is always working ans Jackson conveys that so well. It's also the first time we really get to see him in full-on super villain mode and Jackson is just having a ball with it. Sarah Paulson is the newcomer to this dynamic as the three men's therapist, one who specializes in a specific form of delusion of grandeur, helping people who are convinced they are superhuman. Of course, we as the audience know she's wrong and it's only a matter of time until she discovers it, but Paulson does give the character the conviction and presence that it's believable when David begins to doubt himself and what he can do because of her therapies. Returning from their respective previous films are Spencer Treat Clarke, Charlayne Woodard (playing Mr. Glass' mother), and Ana Taylor-Joy from Unbreakable and Split and all three are great to see back for the final film as their storylines converge as we get closer to the conclusion.
It will be interesting to see what audiences make of this film after the market has been so saturated with comic book blockbusters (as opposed to 2000, when Unbreakable came out and comic book movies were thought to be unprofitable). Compared to those, Glass is a small indie movie. Yet, it accomplishes more with it's characters and it's grounded plotting that I found it a welcome relief from all the overblown CGI and special effects. Not to say that I don't enjoy those movies too because I do when they're done right. But this movie is different from that. It's more concerned with it's characters and what the real world would be like if there really were superheroes. I had the unique privilege to see this in a marathon screening alongside Unbreakable and Split and I have to say that is the ideal way to view this film. Watch the first two films first and then go see Glass. As the concluding chapter to a trilogy started a little over 18 years ago, it brings things to a satisfying conclusion.
As someone who was raised on the likes of The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, I took to Black Mirror, their natural 21st century successor, fairly quickly. The newest addition to the series, a feature length interactive movie, is one of the most exciting yet. While it doesn't quite reach the heights of the best of Black Mirror (you know, the ones that make you want to throw out your computer right after watching it), it is a bold and exciting experiment in itself.
Stefan Parker (played by Fionn Whitehead) is a troubled young video programmer living in 1984 era London whose ambition is to create a video game based on his favorite book, a Choose Your Own Adventure style fantasy novel called Bandersnatch. He's created a revolutionary style of gaming for it, and has a meeting with a video game company headed by famed designer Colin Ritman (played by Will Poulter) and Mohan Thikur (played by Asmin Chaudry) to pitch the game. Colin is surprised that Stefan decided to adapt the novel since it's writer went insane and killed his wife after writing it. Nonetheless, they are impressed with his design thus far and agree to a partnership with Stefan designing the game, with the provision that it's finished and available for Christmas. Stefan lives with his father, Peter (played by Craig Parkinson) and makes regular visits to a psychiatrist, Dr. Haynes (played by Alice Lowe). However, the more he works on the game, the more he finds his grip on reality loosening as he becomes increasingly convinced he is no longer in control of his own decision making.
Charlie Brooker was tasked by Netflix to try and create an interactive episode of his famed anthology series, Black Mirror, and intrigued by the possibilities agreed. From a technological perspective, the episode is a smashing success. The interactive film moves seamlessly from scene to scene as the decisions are made as to what direction the story should go into or what Stefan should do from two separate choices. They start off simple, with such mundane choices as whether he should have Sugar Puffs or Frosted Flakes for Breakfast or listen to the Thompson Twins or a Compilation Tape on the way to the meeting (with the soundtrack changing to match each choice). As the story goes on, the choices get decidedly darker and/or weirder as it goes on, with one option that obliterates the fourth wall in a way I've never quite seen before. Of course, the entire set up of the story plays around with the fourth wall as the main character Stefan becomes increasingly aware of his lack of control over his own actions. Where Bandersnatch stumbles is in the story it is telling within this new interactive format. While it is clever and at times very surprising, there isn't a lot of payoff to the story itself in any of the possible endings. Especially when compared to the best of Black Mirror, it falls a bit flat. Still, I appreciated the way this whole thing was put together as it allows the viewer to go back and try again if they run into a dead end in the narrative or a lame ending. I also appreciated that at certain points when you go back to redo a scene to make a different choice, it's not the exact clip, but rather Stefan specifically acknowledging that he's done that scene before.
The cast assembled for this is quite good, lead by Fionn Whitehead as Stefan. His does a great job capturing his character's inner turmoil (stemming from his mother's death when he was young and the blame he assigns himself for it) and confusion as the story goes on, but also equally captures the humor and fun of the far sillier options that are available (you'll know it when you find it). Will Poulter has an interesting turn as Colin, who in one story branch becomes something of a mentor to Stefan in a session at Colin's apartment that includes smoking a spliff and experimenting with hallucinogens. Poulter makes Colin a unique character, who is a more accomplished game designer and someone who Stefan looks up to. He takes Colin's very blunt and straightforward personality and makes him and an engaging and intriguing character. It's easy to see how Stefan would be drawn to someone with such strong confidence. Alice Lowe has a nice turn as Dr. Haynes and gives her character a lot of warmth and care (except, again, for the joke endings). Craig Parkinson has the trickier role as Stefan's father, but still manages to make the character sympathetic, even if he tends to lash out in frustration at Stefan, as a viewer I at least could understand where it was coming from. He wants to help his son get better and find a way to live on his own, even if he's not sure how to do it.
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch is a fun experiment in a new form of filmmaking, blending film and video game together for an all together unique experience. It's beautifully shot throughout and has some top notch acting, especially from lead Fionn Whitehead. While some of the tangents are riotously entertaining and spectacularly weird, at the end none of the endings (there's five main endings total) really pull all the wild ideas thrown around about fate, destiny and how much control we really have over our lives into a cohesive whole. It's an interesting format and fun to play around with but at the same time I just wish they had stuck the landing a bit better and made sure each tangent had a satisfying and memorable ending. As it is, it's still worth checking out if you're interested, but you might be a bit let down at the end.
Lately, Disney has been regularly revisiting their movie vaults to find films they can revisit, either with live action remakes, both Aladdin and The Lion King are on their way in the next year, or in the case of Mary Poppins Returns a very belated sequel. Certainly an intimidating prospect if there ever was one, the cast and crew manage to pull of the seemingly impossible with style as they create a worthy follow-up to one of Disney's most beloved classics.
25 years have passed since we last visited the Banks family. Michael (played by Ben Whishaw) and Jane (played by Emily Mortimer) have grown up. Michael is living in his childhood home on Cherry Tree Lane with his three children, Anabel (played by Pixie Davis), John (played by Nathanael Saleh) and Georgie (played by Joel Dawson). Michael's wife passed away a year prior and Michael has barely been keeping things together, with help from his sister Jane, who in her spare time volunteers as a political activist (not unlike her late mother was). When Michael receives a foreclosure notice on the house, it finally becomes too much for him to bear. Luckily, from the clouds should return the one and only Mary Poppins (played by Emily Blunt), returned to help the Banks children once again. She minds the Michael's three kids, with some help from a local lamplighter Jack (played by Lin Manuel Miranda), who apprenticed at one time under a certain chimney sweep named Bert. Together, they embark on a series of adventures while the three children try to figure out a way to help their dad when they find out he's in danger of losing the house. Meanwhile, Michael and Jane are desperately searching to come up the certificate of shares their father had in the bank before the deadline of the end of the week, as stipulated by the shady bank manager, Mr. Wilkins (played by Colin Firth).
Rob Marshall directed the film from a script by David Magee. Together, they really manage to recapture the spirit of the original film while also being uniquely it's own film. Composing the music this time is Marc Shaiman, with consulting from Richard Sherman (who composed the music for the original film with his late brother Robert) also does a fantastic job of recapturing that same feel of the original film in each of his compositions. Rob Marshall also quite rightly insisted on hand drawn animation for the sequences that meld live action and animation, much like the first film. It is wonderfully done and nice to see the effort was made to make sure it seamlessly matched the style of the original film, while maybe a little more polished given the progress made in effects since the first film. The production design is also quite good as the film seamlessly mixes it's sets and actual London locations. They also do a great job bringing to life a number of fantastical set pieces, including a room that turns completely upside down every second Wednesday of the month. Even the opening credits over the painted backdrop that foreshadow key moments in the film, like many a Disney film before it, was a nice touch.
The film has a fantastic cast led by Emily Blunt in the title role. Blunt wisely did not re-watch the original film, but rather read the original P.L Travers novels to research her role and crafts a Mary Poppins that is entirely her own rather than merely an imitation of what came before. She is absolutely delightful in the role and genuinely succeeds in making it her own. Lin Manuel Miranda was absolutely delightful as Jack, putting his massive singing and dancing talents to work and the results are nothing short a incredible. He makes Jack such a lovable character as well, from the opening scene all the way to the end. Ben Whishaw is left with much of the emotional heavy lifting as Michael, trying to move on after the death of his wife and keep his family together when everything seems to be falling apart. Whishaw is up to the task though and is great in the role. Emily Mortimer has a nice turn as Jane, and has some nice chemistry with potential love interest Jack. Colin Firth has a supporting turn as the villainous bank manager Mr. Wilkins, which is a fun change of pace from his usual good guy, romantic lead roles. He gives the role a certain two-faced smarminess that fit the classic Disney villains. Julie Walters has supporting role as the family's forgetful maid and gives the role a great comedic spirit in the classic Julie Walters style. Meryl Streep turns up for a cameo role as Mary Poppins' cousin that Mary and the kids visit for one of the more visually unique musical numbers in the film. Dick Van Dyke also pops up, reprising his role from the previous film as Mr. Dawes, the previous Bank Manager, (Bert, on the other hand, is on Holiday to parts unknown) and gives as spirited a performance as ever. Angela Lansbury also has a delightful cameo as well at the end of the film.
Overall, Mary Poppins Returns manages to do the impossible and recaptures the spirit of the original film while branching out and doing it's own thing as well. Of course, I should mention I did deliberately not revisit the original film prior to seeing this one because I wanted to experience this film, as well as Emily Blunt and Lin Manuel Mandela, on it's own merits without Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke fresh in my head. Nonetheless, it's a revisit rather than a retread and all the better for it. The only nitpick I could make is there is one plot element that was really predictable to me but in the end it still paid off beautifully. There is something that it just infectiously fun about this movie as I sat in the theatre, grinning from ear to ear from beginning to end. At one point at the end of the film, Michael remarks that he feels like a kid again. I almost responded, "Yeah, me too."
I think it was the casting more than anything that got me excited for Netflix's biggest new Holiday offering, The Christmas Chronicles. I mean, Kurt Russell as Santa Claus. How could that possibly be anything short of completely awesome? I'm happy to report, it actually really is.
Kate (played by Darby Camp) and her older brother Teddy (played by Judah Lewis) are facing their first Christmas without their father (played by Oliver Hudson), a firefighter who passed away on the job. Kate is trying to cope the best she can while Teddy is struggling more and started hanging out with some trouble making friends whose idea of a good time includes Grand Theft Auto (and I'm not talking about the video game). When their Mom, Claire (played by Kimberly Williams-Paisley), is called in to work at the Hospital on Christmas Eve, the two siblings are left on their own. When Kate spots a glimpse of what she thinks is Santa (played by Kurt Russell) in an old home video, Teddy humors her and they set up a clever trap to catch a glimpse of the big guy when he arrives that night. To their surprise, their set-up works and as they venture outside to catch sight of the big guy they stumble across Santa's sleigh, complete with a team of reindeer, hovering in the alley. Wanting to get a closer look, Kate climbs a telephone pole and jumps into the sleigh, with Teddy following. Before they can get out, Santa returns and unaware of his extra passengers, takes off. When Kate taps him on the shoulder, Santa is understandably shocked to find the two kids in his sleigh and winds up losing control of the sleigh, crashing in downtown Chicago, losing both the reindeer and his sack of presents in the process. Stranded, the three have no choice but to team up to find Santa's reindeer, lost sack of presents and help him complete his run and in the process save Christmas.
The film was directed by Clay Kaytis from a script by Matt Lieberman. Liberman has, within this fairly straightforward Christmas fantasy, crafted some fun reinventions of the Santa Claus character and his surrounding operations. This version of the character is much more of a straight-shooter and no-nonsense. He doesn't go for the jolly, "Ho-ho-ho" stuff and bristles at his depiction on billboards and soda cans. They also come up with a neat twist with how the presents are delivered. In the bottom of his sack is a portal that leads to a conveyor belt at the North Pole (think airport baggage claim on steroids). The depiction of the Elves in this one is also a welcome change. Rather than using kids or little people, they went with a fully CGI creation, while not the most convincing CGI, makes for a decidedly cute group of helpers, reminding me a little of the Minions from the Despicable Me films. Of course, a lot of the magic of Santa, how exactly he's able to deliver presents to all the kids around the world, isn't explained in any real depth but we get enough of a sense of it through Santa's navigation system allowing him to instantly travel from city to city and that's enough to satisfy most viewers rather than get bogged down in details that don't really matter. The filmmakers wisely keep the film focused on the more comedic and fantasy elements striking a tone more reminiscent of 80's family comedies such as The Goonies or Adventures in Babysitting, including an impromptu musical number with Santa singing Elvis Presley's "Santa Claus is Back in Town" (because of course it had to be Elvis). However, the few emotional moments in the film did land nicely, being sentimental without being overly saccharine.
Once he shows up, Kurt Russell owns this film with his rendition of Santa Claus. It's such a fun and refreshing take on the classic character. In a way, Russell makes him feel a bit more real and three dimensional. His Santa gets frustrated and can be a bit grumpy at times, but at the same time he knows everyone (because of course he does) and does seem to genuinely enjoy what he does. It's that he also understands how important what he does is to the world (apparently, the last time he didn't complete his run he accidentally caused the Dark Ages, so there are some stakes). Darby Camp does well in the usual precocious kid sister role and captures her character's innate resourcefulness quite well, which comes in handy more that once, even as she goes through the film with the family camcorder more or less glued to her hand, capturing every moment of their adventure with Santa. Judah Lewis has the trickier role with much of the more emotional moments falling to his character but he's up to the task with making them work while managing to make his character remain likable. Lamorne Morris and Martin Roach have amusing supporting turns as two Chicago police officers who have a run-in with Santa and have a hard time believing he's the real deal.
In the end, The Christmas Chronicles is probably not the most earth shatteringly original film, but it is cute and a lot of fun. A lot of that has to do with Kurt Russell's infectious performance as Saint Nick. His performance dominates the film as soon as he shows up and along with the two kids, they make the film work as well as it does. Yes, the plot is a little predictable, but it still has enough fun surprises to keep things interesting (including some A+ casting for Mrs. Claus, a surprise I wouldn't dare spoil). It's certainly fresher and more fun than the latest recycled Holiday Rom Com the Hallmark Channel is churning out. Yet, it is probably not going to rank among the all time Holiday Classics like It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, White Christmas, or A Christmas Story, but The Santa Clause might have cause to be nervous.
There have been countless iterations of the legend of Robin Hood over the years, from the swashbuckling Errol Flynn classic, to the equally classic Disney animated film to the Kevin Costner film (which Alan Rickman effortlessly stole for himself), the Mel Brooks parody (which has not aged as well as it should have), to the Russell Crowe version and the semi-recent BBC series that ran for three seasons. Do we really need another version of this well worn tale? That's going to be up to each audience member to decide for themselves, I suppose.
Robin of Locksley (played by Taron Egerton) lives a life a privilege as Lord of Locksley Manor spending his time watching over his lands and romancing Marion (played by Eve Hewson). Everything changes when he's drafted to join the Crusades and sent to the Middle East to fight in the war. There he meets John (played by Jamie Foxx), a prisoner of war whose son, despite Robin's best efforts, is killed for refusing to give information to help the British soldiers. Robin is sent home from the war, John stowing away on board. Robin returns to find his home in ruins, seized by the Sheriff of Nottingham (played by Ben Mendelsohn) and Marian, thinking Robin having died in the Crusades, having moved on to Will Scarlett (played by Jamie Dornan). He is also horrified to learn that the people are being taxed so much they are having to give up pretty much everything they have to fun the Sheriff's war efforts. His path soon crosses with John, who proposes to train Robin to steal the money back from the Sheriff to help his people and allow John to get vengeance on the man at the command of the army that killed his son (the Sheriff). John knows the best way to hurt the Sheriff, as well as the Sheriff's power, is by redistributing the wealth he has hoarded from his people. Another part of their plan is for Robin to resume his place among the Lords and get close to the Sheriff and earn his trust to learn his plans as well as where he keeps the loot. All the while, that familiar spark with Marian begins to rekindle, no matter how much John wants Robin to resist it and focus on their tasks at hand.
The film is directed with curious style by Otto Bathurst from a script by Ben Chandler and David James Kelly. It's a film that is a bold mix of the traditional medieval setting of the original legend and a contemporary sensibility. It's not the first Robin Hood outing to do this, the semi-recent BBC series took a similar approach, but this one has a much more unique style to it, taking place in it's own isolated universe with a time period that is never firmly established (the film's narrator plainly states he doesn't recall). This curious flourish allows the film the freedom to mix and match elements with slight more contemporary costuming with the traditional setting. The production design of the film likewise has it's own unique flourishes that certainly make this one of the more unique looking Robin Hood films. As with any film like this, the action is an important part and the filmmakers did come up with some suitably thrilling sequences, including a pretty impressive chase sequence between two horse drawn wagons, as well as a sequence of Robin having to escape an onslaught of guards from a botched robbery on the Sheriff's vaults. They also brought in famed archer Lars Andersen to teach the cast his impressive archery skills and the results speak for themselves as they added some impressive extra level to the usual swashbuckling.
Taron Egerton leads the cast in the titular role, approaching the role with a certain humorous charm he has honed through his career. He makes Robin an appealing hero for the contemporary age and rather worked well in the role. He manages to handle the dual nature of his character quite well, posing as a haughty and well off Lord to the Sheriff while in secret with John plotting to steal the Sheriff's riches. Jamie Foxx adds a certain manic charm to his John, who becomes mentor to Robin, training him to help him get the vengeance he wants from the leader of the army that killed his son, unable to pull it off himself due to losing his hand at the beginning of the film. Ben Mendelsohn gives his own interpretation of the Sheriff of Nottingham, striking similar notes to his villainous turn in Ready Player One earlier this year. His Sheriff isn't as memorably evil as Alan Rickman's, who still holds the crown as far as I'm concerned, but he's still a suitably dastardly villain. Eve Hewson does what she can with the role of Marian, a much more modern, independent and feistier Marion than seen in the older films. She's still functioning primarily as Robin's love interest, in this case as part of a love triangle between her, Robin and Will Scarlett. On that note, Jamie Dornan has a good turn as Will, his character an outspoken man of the people, trying to accomplish things within the system, whereas Robin operates squarely outside of it, setting up an interesting dichotomy between the two that I thought added a nice twist to the usual tale. Tim Minchin has an amusing turn as Friar Tuck who puts on an act of being a bit clumsy and incompetant, but only masks his own attempts to undermine the Sheriff. This in turn adds a good deal of humor to his scenes, which I enjoyed.
Some critics of this film having been comparing it to last Summer's equally curiously anachronistic King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, another film that I enjoyed for what it was. This film isn't high art, but as a fun re-invention of a very oft-told tale. At the same time, I can see that people's mileage will definitely vary with this one. It may not ever quite catch fire the way some may have expected it to, but at the same time it's breezy, popcorn fun that I can't bring myself to dislike at all either.
Arriving two years after the surprisingly delightful Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, we get the follow-up, The Crimes of Grindelwald, which is the second film in a planned five film series. In true J.K Rowling fashion, the second film takes a darker turn as the big bad begins his rise to power.
Set a few months after the previous film, Gellert Grindelwald (played by Johnny Depp) has escaped in a daring prison escape and is living on the run in Europe, plotting to start a revolution to take the magical folk out of the shadows and become the ruling class he feels they were destined to be. Newt Scamander (played by Eddie Redmayne), is trying to get permission to travel outside of the U.K again (he's currently banned because of the events of the previous film), a request the Ministry of Magic is only inclined to grant if Newt agrees to help them track down Credence Barebone (played by Ezra Miller) and destroy him, as they fear Grindelwald is looking to recruit the dangerous and unstable boy to his cause. Newt understandably says no. He receives a similar offer from his former teacher, Albus Dumbledore (played by Jude Law), but also turns him down. However, when friends Queenie (played by Alison Sudol) and Jacob (played by Dan Fogler), turn up on his doorstep, Newt finds a reason to get involved. When a fight between Queenie and Jacob over wanting to get married (it's illegal for magic folk and non-magic folk to get married in America, so she wants to do it in the U.K, but Jacob has concerns over what could happen to them if they do), Queenie leaves in a huff to join her sister Tina in Paris. Discovering Tina (played by Katherine Waterston) is in Paris hunting Grindelwald, Newt and Jacob follow in hot pursuit, and in the process find themselves right in the middle of Grindelwald's plot to rise to power in ways they never expected.
David Yates returns once again to the Wizarding World of J.K Rowling, who wrote the screenplay for the film, for his sixth outing with the franchise and certainly has set the style and tone for the series since he started with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The film does strike a darker tone this time out, which fits with the stories themes. The film does have to juggle a staggering number of plot threads, of which I barely touched on them all above. The film has a lot going on in it and Yates manages to keep the film coherent for the most part (although I did re-watch the first Fantastic Beasts film the night before, so that probably helped). The one flaw with the film is that as much as they are telling the story for this film, it also sets up plot threads that the viewer knows aren't going to pay off until the next film, or the next film after that or the one after that which can make for a bit of a frustrating viewing experience. Still, the film does have enough on tap to make it an entertaining endeavor, especially for fans of the series as the film is littered with Easter Eggs that fans will no doubt pick up on and know all too well how they will pay off down the road in the Harry Potter series. Rowling manages to work in some genuinely shocking plot twists with this outing as well that left me stunned as the credits started to roll, even with the expected annoyance at being left on a cliffhanger. Yates and his crew do a great job creating the world the film exists in as it explores the Wizarding World side of Paris this time out. It's also nice to see a return to Hogwarts for the first time since Deathly Hallows, Part 2, and keep your eyes and ears peeled because Dumbledore isn't the only familiar face whose younger self makes an appearance there either. Still, these are touches that will delight the hardcore fans, but sail over the heads of the more casual viewers.
For all of it's narrative problems, the film at least has a number of wonderful performances within it. Eddie Redmayne gives another endearing performance as the kind-hearted Newt Scamander, a character who has always been most happy with his fantastic creatures more so that other people. Redmayne does a good job portraying Scamander's big heart as well as his more social struggles. Jude Law makes for a great younger Dumbledore, making the role his own while at the same time hinting towards the man that would eventually be played later on in the Harry Potter series, leaning more towards Michael Gambon's iteration of the character rather than Richard Harris. Katherine Waterston does well as Tina, who since the previous film has been reinstated as an Auror and is on the trail of the recently escaped Gellart Grindelwald. Waterston has some good moments with Redmayne as the two try to sort of their relationship, hindered by some misinformation she read about him being engaged (he really isn't). Dan Fogler returns as Jacob Kowalski and has a bit more of a stake in the action this time since his relationship with Tina's sister Queenie has developed and the two want to get married, despite Wizarding World laws in America preventing that and putting a strain on their relationship. Alison Sudol as Queenie likewise has a bit more to chew on in this outing as Queenie, looking for a solution to her woes in all the wrong places and Sudol continues to make her character lovable and sympathetic even as her character makes some staggeringly bad decisions. Johnny Depp does the best with a rather underwritten role. For playing the titular character, we still don't get a real sense of his character. Still, Depp does give the character a certain sense of menace, even if his character largely still remains an enigma. Still, with another three movies left in this series, I can only presume they will be delving into his character more in a subsequent entry, along with Grindelwald's complicated history with Dumbledore (some of which is referenced in this film). However, the well known romantic entanglements between the two characters have yet to be portrayed on screen aside from a telling moment of Dumbledore in front of the Mirror of Erised (a mirror that reflects what the viewer most deeply desires).
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is more of a mixed bag of a film than the film before it. It suffers from what a lot of middle chapter films in multi-film sagas suffer from, more pre-occupied with setting up things that aren't going to pay off until the next film rather than telling a satisfying story of it's own. The film is well made with stunning visuals and solid performances, but it also has some narrative problems that made the film a little frustrating to me. There is so much going on in this movie that ultimately amounts to not much. Maybe it will make sense once we have Part 3, 4 and 5 but right now it kinda feels like much ado about not much, which is kind of annoying. I still enjoyed the film for what it was and as a fan probably enjoyed it more than many, but it is a definite case of your mileage may vary depending on how much of a Harry Potter fan you are.
