An average movie

To be honest,  I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was available on HBO Max, I thought I might as well finally check it out. Well, when it was released after 4 long years, it turned out to be the first real flop in this franchise and, after watching this movie, I don’t think it really deserved a better fate though. Indeed, the damned thing was pretty much a rambling mess. Of course, they had the pandemic and the whole mess with Johnny Depp who had to be replaced but, even without these issues, I don’t think it would have worked either. First of all, sure, it has been a while since I saw the previous instalments but I had no idea about who half of the characters were. Why was Tina, one of the most recognizable characters, not involved? Why bringing back Jacob Kowalski in the mix? Sure, Dan Fogler has always been one of the (very few) highlights in this struggling franchise but it doesn’t make sense to bring his character each time again. Concerning the story, once again, I really struggled to see how it exactly connected by the previous movies but, basically, it was some kind of really muddled mix of some half-baked unconvincing little mind games and some spy feature taking place in the 30’s. Of course, this mix does sound odd and it obviously never worked. The only thing that this movie had going was that they finally fully leaned in the fact that Albus Dumbledore is gay and it was a nice touch that he was, at some point, actually in love with Gellert Grindelwald. Can you imagine a movie focusing on this love story, instead of these useless endless fights between ‘good’ and ‘evil’ wizards? On the other hand, the fact that J.K. Rowling has been such an outspoken anti-transgender advocate does leave such a bitter taste that her ‘appreciation’ or, even worse, ‘acceptance’ of gay people does almost feel like an insult. Anyway, to conclude, it’s possible that my rating might be too harsh but, I’m sorry, the damned thing was just weak and I think you can avoid it, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of this franchise. 

5/10