The biggest problem with this movie is that, to put it bluntly, almost nothing happens. For the first three-quarters of the film, very little action is taken by the characters to advance the plot. As the film went on, it almost felt like it was running out of time to actually tell a story. That being said, the ending was surprisingly good and held some emotional impact - perhaps because it was the only part of the film where something actually happened that affected the main characters.

Newt returns as a likeable-enough protagonist, and it's of course great to have Jacob back, who has been the best part of both movies so far (although his relationship with Queenie did hit some painfully familiar beats). Grindelwald is intimidating and mysterious - up until the point he first speaks, at which he becomes Johnny Depp. There were far too many characters as a whole, which was likely the main reason the narrative was so bloated and winding.

The visual presentation seemed, for the most part, to be more unique and creative than the previous film. Shots were more carefully crafted and interesting, but there were problems with this complexity. The first of the two (yes, just two) action scenes was quite disorienting to watch and rather unengaging, but the second used a much more inventive location and was one of the highlights of the film.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was a fun, inventive blockbuster with a good sense of humor and many entertaining setpieces. The Crimes of Grindelwald seems to think of itself more as a nuanced character study, but for the most part lacks the coherence and momentum to make it worthwhile.