Erych Frankenfield, A&E Editor
The magical world of “Harry Potter” came back to the big screen with the latest installment of the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise: “The Crimes of Grindelwald.”
The movie more closely follows the story of Grindelwald: the dark lord of the wizarding world before Voldemort.
The movie goes into the details of his plots to make the wizards supreme, and how the protagonist, Newt Scamander, attempts to foil this plan.
The movie was flawless with a few exceptions. The visuals were great with the many designs of the new beasts and their effects; one of these was the Zouwu, which is a giant cat. The Zouwu has sparks that streak from its mane and fly off in different directions, and it has a silk-like tail with a ruby-red color to it.
Fans will be excited for the return to Hogwarts that “Crimes of Grindelwald” gives the audience. The castle is shown many times throughout the movie, whether it is a flashback to Newt’s school days or in the middle of one of Dumbledore’s classes.
Since the movie mostly took place in France, the audience was able to see the French Ministry of Magic for the first time. It has beasts known as Matagots –which look like large, black hairless cats — that protect it.
J.K. Rowling is expanding the world of the “Harry Potter” franchise through the “Fantastic Beasts” series with France setting the stage. She is most likely setting it up to follow Grindelwald through many different countries, and to have fans learn more about the wizarding world. Potentially leaked by Rowling over Twitter due to a spelling error, many sources (including Digital Spy) have it that the next film will be set in Rio de Janeiro, but that has yet to be confirmed by Rowling.
The movie did have a glaring plot hole that only superfans would see, however: Professor McGonagall from the original “Harry Potter” series is supposedly not even born by the time the movie takes place, but she still shows up many times over the span of the movie.
Rowling plans for three more movies, so fans will have to wait and see what comes of Grindelwald and his associate, Credence Barebones, in the next installment of the “Fantastic Beasts” series.