Screen Junkies and Honest Trailers have finally set their sights on one of the most disappointing films of last year: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. The dismal entry into the Potterverse canon was poorly received by critics and fans alike, and made less money than its predecessor (only in the Potterverse is grossing over $648 million worldwide seen as a failure).
In fact, thanks to Grindelwald‘s poor performance, filming for the third installment in the five film franchise has been delayed to allow for more development time.
As someone who didn’t care for the first Fantastic Beasts film and downright loathed Grindelwald, I can’t say I’m surprised. The entire franchise lacks the magic of the Harry Potter saga in every way: shallow uninteresting characters, overly complicated plot mechanics, and it just plain isn’t fun.
Honest Trailers points that out by noting, “Okay, did WB suck all the joy out of Harry Potter for Aquaman and Shazam? Cuz if this series ends with J.K. blowing up the Ministry of Magic with a jar of pee, I’m gonna be very upset.” The pee reference is from a scene in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, where Lex Luthor bombs a congressional hearing (with a jar that looks like pee? I haven’t seen the movie in a minute so I forget the exact details.)
And this is where Honest Trailers touches on exactly what is wrong with The Crimes of Grindelwald: like the Snyder’s DCEU, it’s trying to take inspiration from Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. Unfortunately for both Snyder’s entries and Fantastic Beasts, while they copy the color palette and dourness of said trilogy, they lack the allegory and depth of Nolan’s work. They are trying to deep, but it’s all window dressing.
Just because you stack your film with “grim-faced people in suits talking” doesn’t mean you’re doing anything profound. And for that matter, who exactly was asking for a dour, humorless look at the Potterverse? For the love of Weasley, somebody tell a joke already!
The trailer also touches on the awkwardness of Grindelwald, aka Wizard Hitler, and his dastardly scheme to … stop World War II? Oof magoof, this franchise is a mess. I would however, definitely watch a spin-off series starring Eva Braunakadavra and Rigly Sweatbrow.
What did you think of the Honest Trailer for The Crimes of Grindelwald? Were you disappointed in the film or did you enjoy it?
(via YouTube, image: screencap)
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