Well, if you enjoyed the first movie in the franchise, then you would also like the 2018 sequel " Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald" from writer J. K. Rowling and director David Yates.

I never got around to watching this movie before now in 2022, as I didn't really enjoy the first movie when I saw it back in 2016. But I opted to give the franchise a new chance, and returned to watch the first movie again, and now made it to "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald" four years after it was released.

First of all, I will say that "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald" definitely has a darker atmosphere and feel to it, and it seems to be aiming at a more adult audience in comparison to the 2016 movie. And that was definitely something that appealed to me.

However, the storyline just felt somewhat disjoined and erratic. At times I felt like I was just watching a collection of random scenes that were shot and then put into a movie narrative. While there definitely was an overall red thread in the storyline, I just felt that the movie went somewhat off course a couple of time. But it made for an adequate viewing experience. In a sense, then I was left with a sense of most of the things thrown at me on the screen through the disarrayed storyline never was brought full circle, so it seems there were lots of loose ends here.

It certainly was nice to see returning cast members reprise their roles, as it added a sense of continuity to the story and helped establish the world and the characters within the world. However, we are introduced to so many characters throughout the 2 hours and 14 minutes that the movie ran for, many of which we just superficially get to know. It was nice to see Johnny Depp in the movie, just a shame that he wasn't given more on-screen time.

Visually then "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald" was a great movie, just as the 2016 movie also was. You are in for a great CGI presentation here, as the effects are realistic and look really good. And that is, of course, really important for a movie that has magic as it focal point.

"Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald" is a movie that definitely will please fans of the "Harry Potter" universe and fans of the 2016 movie.

My rating of "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald" lands on a six out of ten stars.