The Fantastic Beasts series does a great job of expanding the world previously introduced to us through the Harry Potter franchise. Seeing the wider world of the wizardry community, and the emergence and back story of characters such as Grindelwald, and Dumbledore is compelling viewing. Even if the road to the infamous battle between those two is a long way off yet....

Eddie Redmayne as always is a joy to watch as the awkward yet admirable protagonist (Newt Scamander), and the supporting cast are for the most part terrific, (Jude Law, Zoe Kravitz, Claudia Kim and Johnny Depp in particular).

All in all though, the story follows too many character arcs, which makes the whole narrative of the film a little perplexing in parts... Too many people start behaving "out of character" with little or no explanation / provocation and whilst the backdrop for all this is beautifully displayed and keeps you engaged, the story does feel a bit lightweight and confused in parts.

The film could be summed up with; "Grindelwald is being a conniving Machiavellian baddie, good guys are trying their best to stop him, but in the end, we all know Dumbledore will step up to save the day".

In some ways these movies are always going to suffer in the same way the Star Wars prequels did, which is to say that the end is already known, and they're fleshing out the story that gets us there. If you're happy with that, and just want to enjoy the Wizard Rollercoaster, then jump on board because it will certainly be an enjoyable and comfortable ride.