The first 'Fantastic Beasts' film (while fairly dull) did at least show some potential - unfortunately that has been destroyed with this next instalment. A tone of senseless direction is established from the start - Grindlewald escapes in the opening scene, rendering his initial capture completely pointless. The audience is given no reason to feel tension for anything that happens - apparently events can be reversed or ignored at will in this series. Laughably, Jacob has also retained his memory completely and Credence is infact alive (suddenly in Paris somehow.) How and why is of course never explained...

There is barely even a plot to speak of. The movie is reduced to explaining convoluted family trees. J K Rowling has clearly put a lot of effort into working out how this parade of tedious characters are related to each other. Unfortunately she seems to have forgotten to think up any reason for the audience to actually GIVE A DAMN. Maybe we will get to that part over the next 3 films (give me strength!)

A terrible cast. Newt the pathetic wet blanket whimpers his way through scenes. An unbearable character surrounded by boring sidekicks. In hindsight the hype and controversy surrounding Nagini is hilarious! She says barely 10 words through the film and has absolutely ZERO impact to anything that happens.

Scenes where we return to Hogwarts are just terrible. Looking past the glaring plot holes and inconsistencies to the original series - It's just a sad reminder of how uninspired and empty everything feels compared to Harry Potter. The lazy art direction doesn't help - sets, costumes and CGI are all a colourless haze.

Even the title is confused and messy. Attempting to amaze the audience with "fantastic beasts" and terrify with "Grindlewald's crimes." It fails at both! Resulting in a film that is neither fantastic nor thrilling. A bland muddled bore. Cannot recommend on any level.