Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

Front Row at the Movies by Shirrel Rhoades

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If you like the magical world of J.K. Rowling – yes, she gave us Harry Potter – you’ll love the return of Newt Scamander, Wizard Albus Dumbledore’s star pupil.

We met Newt in “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.” He’s a British Ministry of Magic employee in the Beasts Division of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.

In the first movie, Newt (played by Eddie Redmayne) found himself in 1926 New York City trying to recapture a number of fantastic beasts that escaped from his magically expanded briefcase. The adventure ended with him capturing not only his missing critters but also a dark wizard named Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp).

This time around – in the second installment called “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” – Newt is recruited by Dumbledore (Jude Law) to help recapture the escaped Grindelwald. However, Grindelwald has recruited an army of wayward wizards to help him establish rule over all non-magical beings (no-majs).

Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston) returns as the former Auror who now works in the Federal Wand Permit Bureau. Her younger sister Queenie (Alison Sodol) is smitten with Newt’s friend Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler), but, alas, Jacob has lost his memory following Grindelwald’s attack on New York.

“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” is currently working its box-office magic at Tropic Cinema.

This spinoff from the Harry Potter series is the tenth entry in J. K. Rowling’s Wizarding World franchise.

Although Newt Scamander never made an appearance in the Harry Potter books, there were references to a tome called “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.”

Later on, Rowling published a book by that same name, a fanciful zoological directory describing various magical creatures. It featured an introduction written by “Newt Scamander.” In literature, the creation of such a long work that’s not part of a novel’s narrative is known as a false document.

J. K. Rowling has a talent for making her wizard world seem almost-real. Perhaps that’s what made her the world’s first billionaire author.

However, she lost her billionaire status after giving away much of her earnings to charities, but her net worth is still estimated at nearly $800 million.

But you don’t have to worry for Joanne Rowling, for with each new book and movie her coffers are quickly replenished – as if by magic.

Email Shirrel: srhoades@aol.com