On the day before New Years Day, my family and I went to the Opera Gaumont Cinema to see the movie Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.

As a person who has adored the Harry Potter series for many many years, I was very excited to see the movie. After actually watching it, I have mixed feelings.

Firstly, I don’t understand why Newt Scamander was the only one who could defeat Grindelwald? Mind you, Newt is great, clearly has very strong magic, and I totally want a room-sized suitcase of cool beasts, but he really only seems to be a magizooligist. To compare, we know exactly why Harry was the only one who could defeat Voldemort… the prophecy, Voldemort pretty much marked him as his equal, and all that history. But why Newt?!

Second, in my opinion this movie seems uncannily similar to the Harry Potter movies… Dumbledore tells the protagonist, a young man who doesn’t completely understand why it has to be him, to defeat this fairly old evil sorcerer who killed a bunch of people. There’s a small subplot of romance, and two or three side characters, including is slightly crazy girl with blonde hair (reminds me of Luna Lovegood)

Also, I find the subplot with Newt and Leta and Theseus kind of pointless and unrelated. In general I don’t think it was integrated into the story enough.

Oh, and I am SO mixed up on Albus Dumbledore’s family tree. Ugh.

Finally, will someone PLEASE explain to me the start of the story when Grindelwald is being transported, someone grows two tongues, and then everything kind of goes crazy?

On the other hand, the special effects are fantastic and unworldly! The acting is great, and Newt Scamander is as great a character as ever. And, there are some great shots of Paris! Also, they definitely set the movie up for a sequel, so maybe some of my questions/confusion will be cleared up in the next movie.

Would I recommend this movie?

Probably, but only if you know everything, and I mean EVERYTHING about the Harry Potter world. I think of myself as pretty good at Harry Potter trivia, and even I didn’t understand what some of the plot/characters were referring you. I assure you, if you aren’t all-knowing about Harry Potter, you will be completely lost throughout the movie. Though, you will witness some amazing acting and special effects (as I wrote above), and you can say that you said that you saw the newest Harry Potter movie!

Honestly, it’s really up to you.