Stunning visuals, yet not so compelling storytelling. The moments that should have been captivating are close to boring, not having the impact the writer meant for them to have on the audience. It is the slow writing that creates the boredom in a movie that could have been half an hour and a couple of characters shorter to be more impressive. Less is more.

Grindelwald's crimes are not as horrific as the title lets the audience imagine. Yet. A glimpse of his crimes isn't enough to justify them being mentioned in the title. That being said "The rise of Grindelwald" or simply "Blood pact" would have been more appropriate titles.

Johnny Depp owns Grindelwald. His Grindelwald is as twisted, smart and manipulative as a dark wizard should be at a time of gathering followers.

Jude Law becomes Albus Dumbledore scene after scene and in the end he is as calm, afraid and driven as old Dumbledore was in Harry Potter. It's a pitty he didn't have more screentime, which he's going to get in the next installment, I have to believe.

Eddie Redmayne isn't given enough material to shine. Newt is helpless most of the time, bound to his feelings. I thought he was the star of the franchise, but in this movie he is not. He needs to do more than just tending his beasts and be awkward. Luna Lovegood was awkward, but she owned the place with her awkwardness. Newt needs more "owning" lines for Eddie Redmayne to deliver as he is able to.

There isn't enough room to talk about every important character in this movie as there isn't enough space for each one of them to flourish as they should. Neither for the main nor for the supportive. There are so many subplots in two hours time that it's easy to get lost in the translation. The paradox is that you don't get lost. Fact is, I remember all the subplots and all the characters. I just didn't have time to invest in all of them. Too many people in a story that could be told by less.

Come on Rowling, if you had the imagination to write Harry Potter, sure you can fix your pacing in storytelling for Fantastic Beasts. And get the titles matching with the context...