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My Thoughts On Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them & Crimes of Grindelwald

Since the Secrets of Dumbledore is out in theaters, I went back to watch the first two movies as it has been a few years since I watched them. I think since Crimes of Grindelwald came out is the last time I watched them, which was like back in 2018.

Now I will say when I first saw Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, I didn't know how to feel about it. I thought it had its moments but all together I thought it was odd. I don't know what it was but I think it was cause it was different and it wasn't what I expected it threw me off. Also I was still trying to figure out why this was gonna be a five movie series cause I thought it was dumb and weird at the time.

So I did go see it a second time and I liked it a bit more and as y'all know made fan fics on it and then the sequel.

I adore Newt and I think Eddie Redmayne plays the social awkward person real well and the love Newt has with his creatures is endearing. 

Jacob is easily the best part of the movies, he has very funny lines and has great reactions to magic and the Wizarding World, almost similar how Harry reacted when he was introduced to that world. Not to mentions his interactions with Newt are great and you can feel their friendship.

Queenie is very interesting and I'm so glad she doesn't play the ditzy blonde woman as I was afraid she was gonna be but she is smart even though she doesn't let her emotions take over the logical side of her brain.

Now I might be in the minority in this opinion but...I don't like Tina. I just find her irritating and boring and I have no earthly idea why Newt likes her where most of the time they are on screen she is really mean to him and very kinda stand-offish, especially in Crimes of Grindelwald. Like I know she felt like she was doing her job in the first movie but the thing was it wasn't her job in the first place as she lost her job as an Auror.

And it felt like she wanted to turn Newt in to hopefully reinstate her job as an Auror.
I will also say the MACUSA President was also very stupid as she got mad at Tina for not turning Newt in when that is what she was doing in the first place but she was the one that told Tina to get out of her face.

I really liked Graves as I felt he was an interesting antagonist but I really wish he was a follower of Grindelwald than being Grindelwald in disguise.

Credence is a strange character, I'm not sure really what to think of him besides feel pity for him.

The beasts were really cool to see in action after reading about them in the Harry Potter books. And, at least in the first movie, really brought back the awe and wonder I had for the Wizarding World when I saw the first Harry Potter movie back in 2001 (I didn't read the books til sometime after Chamber of Secrets came out in theaters)

Now I want to get into the very controversial movie, The Crimes of Grindelwald. Unpopular opinion: I don't hate this movie. I actually like the film. I understand the criticism it has gotten but to me, I like it and I still do. If you don't that's fine!

But I liked the darker tone and story this movie was going for but I do feel that maybe either they could've cut down some stuff or made this movie a bit longer to flesh out some plot lines. I also disagree that this is the worst Harry Potter/Wizarding World movie, that honor goes to Half-Blood Prince.

I also didn't mind Johnny Depp. I thought he did a good job but I don't think he fit the role as well as he should. And I wasn't really a fan of his look, he looked too obvious. 

I thought Queenie turning to the dark side was an odd turn but an interesting story arc that could be cool to see at what she could do.

Leta Lestrange was an interesting character and had an interesting backstory. I really wish that she didn't die as it felt a bit rushed and kinda out of nowhere but, hopefully if they make more movies, that plot line will come back into play. I did feel sad she died but I was more sad for Newt and Theseus.
I also liked Theseus, I liked the dynamic between him and Newt.

Tina was still a boring character and she annoyed the hell outta me in this movie more than the last movie. Like I was getting frustrated with her not letting Newt explain himself about him and Leta. She just kept brushing him off and stonewalling him. I also didn't really buy their chemistry and that's a problem when they are supposed to become husband and wife. 

I honestly felt more romantic tension between Newt and Leta than Newt and Tina.
I also felt like Nagini was only thrown in here because she was a familiar name we recognized from the Harry Potter books and movie cause she did fuck all in this movie except to be nice to Credence.

Jude Law kills it as Dumbledore. The first moment we see him and he turns and smiles at Newt, I remember thinking holy crap! That's Dumbledore! He is probably one of the best parts of this movie.
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Anyway, that's all I can think of right now. So all in all, I do like the first two Fantastic Beasts movie and I wouldn't mind more of these movies. I'll be putting up my thoughts of Secrets of Dumbledore here soon.
So stayed tuned for that.