The final trailer for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald has finally been released
And it has left me with one pressing question: is anything real, or will this entire movie be Eddie Redmayne and Jude Law running around in front of a green screen with special effects being thrown in?
I am an avid fan of the Harry Potter series. I cannot even begin to try and count the number of weekends during my childhood where I sat on the couch all day, all weekend, to watch ABC Family’s Harry Potter Weekend marathons. Needless to say, the film saga is beloved by many, and many fans were ecstatic when it was announced we’d be getting a spinoff series, especially one that starred someone as beautiful and quirky as Eddie Redmayne and some adorable magical creatures.
The first movie did not disappoint, earning a 74% “Fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes, and a “93% liked this movie” on Google. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them perfectly brought us all back to the Wizarding World, and in the “roarin’ twenties”, no less. The movie’s lovable main character, Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) was barely overshadowed by the even more lovable, quirky (nonmagical) sidekick, Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler), and was definitely not overshadowed by the fairly bland and not-at-all-quirky female lead, Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston).
Now, I don’t blame Fantastic Beasts for being created in 2016, nor do I blame the sequel for being made in 2018. The cinema industry should always use the best technology available to make the films as fantastic as possible (pun completely intended). However, the caveat of being made in such a high-tech era is that everything feels a little…well…fake. Mostly because it is fake. The best part about the first few Harry Potter movies is that so little is done with CGI because the technology wasn’t really available to them. Seeing the magic come to life was incredible because the production team designed it so creatively – with props, costumes, sets, and some special effects here and there. Watching this trailer felt almost boring just watching CGI creation after CGI creation. I am afraid the movie will be bogged down by technology, and while thats cool to watch, it just feels overdone and phony. I do understand this is the nature about a movie about magic, but it feels like too much flash and not enough substance.
The trailer also, besides being entirely computer generated, gave away some major plot points. I’ve seen all the amazingly beautiful CGI work, I’ve seen the “big bad guy” (a.k.a – a creepy albino Johnny Depp, because apparently the world needed more of that) escape from jail, hurt a whole bunch of people, and make, what appears to be, a final stand. I’m concerned that I know too much and therefore won’t be surprised at all when I go see the film.
I do, however, give this trailer credit for piquing my interest on other levels. For starters: Nagini. Beyond not knowing Nagini used to be a woman, this immediately makes me want to know Nagini’s entire life story, especially how she goes from being able to transform into a snake, to just being a snake, and an evil snake, at that. Next is all of the smaller story arcs that were touched on in the first movie like the potential romantic relationship between Newt and Tina, Kowalski’s memory-wipe, which clearly doesn’t take, Newt’s ex-girlfriend Leta Lestrange (Zoe Kravitz), a young Dumbledore’s (Jude Law) involvement, and, oh yes, the fact that this looks like a fifth movie rather than a second movie.
After watching this trailer, I do feel, in fact, very teased. I do want to go see the film – which will be released on November 16, 2018, and you had better believe I’ll review it opening weekend. In the mean time, I will constantly contemplate how on earth they will make three more movies after this, when the trailer makes it seem like this is the final chapter.
Cinema Speak 
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