Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is the second of 5 movies revolving around Newt Scamander, directed by David Yates and starring Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law and Johnny Depp. Let’s talk about the first trailer:
OK, right off the bat we get to see the source of so many great adventures and symbol for magical mysteries: Hogwarts. And yes, admittedly that is a view I cannot criticize. The castle, the lake, the towers and windows, everything is taking you right back home with Harry. But just like I imagine it must feel like to bite down on an ear wax flavored Bertie Bott’s – when a bunch of people apparate (I’ll just pass on ranting about the impossibility of that), you’re reminded that this is a Fantastic Beasts movie.
The visitors walk through a seriously huge door. Is there ever an end to that ginourmos portal? Next, we are told that Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) is headed for Parrris. Oh mon dieu! Let’s get ready for some Fantastic Beasts shenanigans in and around the most famous and touristy attractions of France’s capital.
This is followed by someone (strooong suspicion it’s Dumbledore but could also be Newt) using the Deluminator and that got me really excited. Who could forget seeing The Sorcerer’s Stone for the first time and the great late Richard Harris using it as imposing Dumbledore on the street lights on sleepy Privet Drive. The dark and dreary atmosphere, the sound of the light swooshing away and everything we know about the history (more importantly maybe the future) of said device is some sweet, sweet fan service.
Cue cute Jude Law meeting with extra-messy-hair Eddie on a roof, smiling with the same twinkling in the eye that we know so well. Law is a skilled actor but his gestures threw me a little bit off. However, I am aware that this is a younger version of Hogwart’s greatest headmaster, so I will look for intricate details and mannerisms in the actual movie.
Dan Fogler as Jacob Kowalski has a short appearance and he honestly makes me smile everytime. He basically is the Ant Man of the Harry Potter universe. A little less technically skilled maybe. Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller) is in this for just a few seconds but gives us a big tease since he shows what might be a young wizard controlling his Obscurus. That is a big deal so I’m very excited to see what will happen there.
An even shorter glimpse of Leta Lestrange gives us some idea of what Zoe Kravitz will look like in the movie. And, yes, she is gorgeous but am I interested in Newt’s ex? Non.
And of course, the biggie: a full frontal of JD as Gellert Grindelwald. He looks like he was a member of Davy Jones’ crew. Sorry, wrong movie. Reluctantly, I will say his get-up has improved. We’ll see what 2 hours in the theater will do to that opinion. What else? Oh, Dumbledore is just sending Newt after Grindelwald because he won’t do it. Excuse me? Isn’t it brutal enough that they won’t let Dumbledore be gay? They won’t let him fight his friend/lover/archnemesis either. At least that’s what it looks like for now. But don’t be too discouraged, we’ll get THREE more of these.
The trailer ends with a little Deathly Hallows sign and the iconic Hedwig’s Theme to round things off. This sparks some hope in me that we might get at least a little bit of a sidestory focussing on the cloak of invisibility, the elder wand and the resurrection stone. All in all, there are good moments in this trailer but I am still highly, no, drastically cauteous.
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