Sunday, December 15, 2024

Harry Potter and the Case of the First Bad Movie: “Fantastic Beasts 2” Getting Alarmingly Negative Reviews

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Uh-oh.

Has the magic potion of “Harry Potter” started to come undone?

The lastest movie JK Rowling inspired film, “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” is getting pretty negative reviews. As they roll into Rotten Tomatoes, the score right now is 57%. But that may not hold. The overall feeling in all reviews is that “Grindelwald” is a mess and a disappointment.

I loved the first “Fantastic Beasts,” which was a massive hit– $814 million worldwide, $234 million US. I even kept my Newt sorcerer’s sticks.

But “Grindewald” — with Johnny Depp hoping to make a comeback from the trashpile he’s made of his career– is not being warmly embraced.

Some excerpts:

Justin Chang, LA Times — “It offers up dazzling feats of sorcery and realms of wonderment and manages to conjure the very opposite of magic.”

Robbie Collin, Daily UK Telegraph– “The biggest riddle in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is working out what on earth the film is actually about.”

So keep refreshing…maybe it will get better….

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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