Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

With the confirmation of a teaser trailer coming out tomorrow it'd be best to create a thread specially for this next installment in the spin-off series set in the wizarding world of Harry Potter. Discuss, contemplate, you all know the drill.

Tis the great art of life to manage well The restless mind

I just might pass on seeing this. I feel like Fantastic Beasts has wasted its potential by choosing to tie into the story of Grindelwald instead of just telling a new and different story about a magic zoologist with minimal connection to the story of Harry Potter. The atrocious casting of Johnny Depp, the fact that Rowling allowed Cursed Child to happen, the announcement that Dumbledore's love for Grindelwald won't be made explicit, and the question of how they're even going to work Newt Scamander into a story that basically has nothing to do with him is also severely lowering any potential enthusiasm on my part.

edited 12th Mar '18 7:10:15 PM by DrDougsh

Well Newt did help capture Grindelwald in the first movie and found out his potential interest in weaponizing an obscurus, so now he's kinda involved whether he likes it or not. The obscurus stuff is heavily theorized to be related to the sickness that Dumbledore's younger sister had, which Grindelwald could have known about during the time he and Dumbledore were hanging out. Also Dumbledore is currently the only solid HP connection in this series atm, as he's the only HP character old enough have been alive and grown in the early 1900's.

edited 12th Mar '18 7:39:49 PM by clockworkboy

Tis the great art of life to manage well The restless mind

First teaser trailer has arrived.

Jude Law does seem give off that mischievous whimsy and charm Dumbledore is known for, irritating the Ministry of Magic and working through people to achieve various goals. The visual quality seems to have improved as well, feels slightly more brighter and vibrant. I suspect a longer trailer to be revealed at Comic-Con, in addition to an Aquaman trailer.

edited 13th Mar '18 5:31:39 PM by clockworkboy

Tis the great art of life to manage well The restless mind

I enjoyed the first movie. Don't give a flap about Depp. Disappointed about Dumbles and Grindy but that's not a deal breaker.

Even so, I probably won't go to see it in theaters. And Where to Find Them wasn't THAT good a movie. I'll rent it after it leaves theaters.

You fell victim to one of the classic blunders!

One thing I did note in the trailer: Jacob shows up ready to accompany Newt on his journey, implying that he's still going to be a significant presence and that his memory wipe probably isn't going to stick. This isn't really that surprising, but I thought I'd point it out.

I hate to admit it, but that was a really great trailer that makes me want to see the movie. Also, I hate to admit it, because it doesn't make up for Depp's personal life or potentially his acting either, but his look in the trailer is an improvement, so maybe someone had a good idea on making better use of him.

I did notice that. Queenie decided to Screw The Rules one supposes.

edited 13th Mar '18 8:10:16 PM by Eagal

You fell victim to one of the classic blunders!

Glad to see that-I was surprisingly invested in him by the end.

So did Dumbledore only start dressing like an eccentric Wizard Classic after he become older then the hills or something?

I'm glad to see the whole gang from the first one back. I became surprisingly attached to them last time (I know some people didn't care much for Tina, but I liked her myself). Also Jacob and Queenie totally need to hook up and tear down that bigoted "no interactions" law that the American wizards have. They're adorable together.

Also the Dumbledore/Grindelwald conflict is what I WANTED to see once they announced that they were doing prequels, so I'm glad that it seems to be building up here.

And the music was really good as well.

Jacob was probably my favourite character by the end, but then I am a very shallow person so it might've just been the moustache.

Yeah, that threw me off a bit; I took Dumbledore for someone who probably wouldn't have dressed so conventionally even as a younger man. Especially since this is only about twenty years before Dumbledore's flashback appearances in Chamber of Secrets and Half-Blood Prince, where he certainly didn't look so mundane. Even his Muggle clothing in the latter book was noted to be very flamboyantly plum-coloured, if I recall correctly.

Honestly, the movies seem to have quietly retconned out something that was a frequent source of humour in the books; that most wizards had no idea how Muggles dress and would frequently dress in weird costumes in failed attempts to blend in. That doesn't really seem like it should be a big issue in the movies, where most magic-folk dress pretty mundanely even when not interacting with any Muggles.

edited 14th Mar '18 8:13:05 AM by DrDougsh

Random tidbit: Jude Law is apparently 45. I guess that Ron's (I think it was him; don't remember which book or film though) joke about Dumbledore being 150 years old wasn't that much of a stretch.

Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.

If I remember correctly, Dumbledore was born in 1881 (per JK's website). And he died in the 1990's, so he was like 115/116 when he died.

Alas, earwax.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

So 2 things that come to mind

1. I like Jude Law's performance in the trailer, but it's undermined by the series insistence to not have wizards dress like wizards. Dumbledore in a suit just feels... wrong. I mean, even the main octology of movies remembered to always keep Dumbledore in a wizard robe even as 99% of the cast ditched them.
2. I'm of two minds on Kowalski. On one hand, he was, by far, the best part of the first movie, so more of him is welcomed. But on the other end, I feel like it sort of undermines his ending somewhat? The implied "He gets to live on with Queenie". Especially when his character really wasn't an action guy so him tagging along doesn't make an awful lot of sense...

edited 14th Mar '18 12:50:53 PM by Ghilz

Dumbledore is not much of a rule follower so I can kinda buy him not wearing traditional wizard attire, espcially when he is so much younger in this time period compared to being 100 years old when HP took place. As for Kowalski, the character mentioned he fought in WWI, and he actually offered to help Newt track down his lost beasts, so it's not surprising he'd be along for another adventure.

edited 14th Mar '18 1:58:11 PM by clockworkboy

Tis the great art of life to manage well The restless mind

New Trailer. And I really dig it. And dare I say I kinda like what I’m seeing from Depp so far. I’m low-key optimistic for this movie.

Tis the great art of life to manage well The restless mind

I think I spotted Dumbledore seeing Grindelwald in the Erised Mirror. I guess that's a bit of a hint at least, even if they won't share any scenes.

Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.

I really don't like what I'm seeing of Depp in this role.

And I'm getting more and more worried about it because, if Grindelwald is going to be the Arc villain of this 5 movie franchise... what happens if he's literally the weakest link of this film?

Nothing is really set in stone. Depp may either get kicked out or leave on his own accord. At this point it seems rather up in the air.

I'm the reverse actually. This made me more onboard with Depp's casting (performance-wise) anyway because he seems suitably menacing and charismatic.

At first in that trailer I thought Grindelwald was addressing the International Council of Wizards or whatever it's called, but it seems like he's addressing his own followers.

But either way it looks really good ^^ Can't wait.

Also liked that bit with Nicholas Flamel. "I'm not a ghost, but I am an alchemist, and thus immortal."

-Jacob proceeds to break Flamel's finger when shaking his hand-

Yeah I like the idea that, while he might not die, his body still ages.