This film has to be one of the weakest franchise entries since the Phantom Menace 20 years ago. The first Fantastic Beast wasn't great, but it had enough writing competence, visual charm and good humor to make an entertaining film. This one, however, was grossly incompetent. It feels much more like an entry in a tired tv show than a feature film. I could not tell you what the plot was, who the protagonist is or even where the act breaks are. The film is muddled mess of clunky exposition strung together by lazy world building. Why is the American magical government called the American Ministry of Magic? Why not the Department of Magic? And so many other questions. The characters, such as they are, are not given enough to do for character arcs. (Quick what change does Newt go under?) The film tries to build on the subtext from the Harry Potter books without making the point explicit enough to work. This is, at least in part, the story of jilted gay lovers fighting and it is laughable the way the script tries to say that without saying that. Also on that note, when exactly did Dumbledore decided to stop dressing in bland grey suits and start dressing in flamboyant colorful ropes? It is a weird disconnect in the film.

More could be said about this film's lack of magic but it was so bland that there no reason to bother.