In almost every culture, there are those believed to have chosen to flirt with the forces of darkness, surrendering to the temptations of the devil. Among these are witches, which Ethiopians refer to as tenqu’way, who are usually depicted and described as women with pale faces and disorganised hairdos. They are not to be approached, or so it is said, but many ordinary people go looking for worldly favours and sacrifice their spiritual selves.

Nonetheless, the Harry Potter franchise, both in book and movie form, has always been popular in Ethiopia. The witches and wizards of the franchise were regular looking people. They have their own government, laws, cultures and even exotic animals. They also have conflict, which to any regular homo sapien that knows anything about the regular world, as opposed to the wizarding world one, should easily recognise.

Harry Potter’s world has its own version of the clash of ideologies. There is a faction which believes that only wizards should be allowed to practise magic and rule over regular people, called muggles in the book. This faction believes the fact that some people are born with magical power is evidence of their racial superiority.

Despite this blood-curling piece of detail, the franchise is usually referred to us a series of children’s books. In truth, for all the magic, mystery and fun, the Harry Potter franchise is propaganda for liberal values, rationality, choice and rejection of identity politics.

The Crimes of Grindelwald, the second film in the Fantastic Beasts franchise, taking place in the late 1920s, before even Harry Potter’s father was born, deals with the same subject. It is not Lord Voldemort this time around that leads the supremacist cause but another morally deplorable guy called Grindelwald (Johnny Depp).

The film begins not long after the events of the first movie, where Grindelwald was apprehended. He easily escapes and sets his eyes on Paris, looking for a young man with great powers called Credence (Ezra Miller). But Grindelwald does not just want to abduct him, he wants to win him to his cause. He wants his own little Goebbels.

To the rescue comes Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), a strange fellow who likes his beastly pets. The mission to locate the young man is given to him by a young Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law), considered the greatest wizard alive, but also one many believe could be killed by the young Credence.

This franchise could have been great. There is a story to be told. The franchise is supposed to be the prelude to the rise of the wizarding Hitler, villain of all villains, Lord Voldemort, and the twisted ideology of racial purity.

Unfortunately, both of the sequels have been more interested in setting the stage for the next chapter of the series. Unlike in the Harry Potter franchise, each sequel is not self-sustaining. When they end, each leaves too many plot elements unanswered for the next movie.

This is what I like to call the The Hobbit Series Syndrome. It made sense to split the last part of the Harry Potter book series into two movies, since there was a great deal of detail and character depth there.

But the two Fantastic Beasts movies could have been squeezed into one film. It was a waste of time to have had Credence die in the first movie only to reveal later he did not exactly die, or get Grindelwald imprisoned only to have him escape in the first 10 minutes of the sequel.

The attempt at trying to depict the wittiness with which those that subscribe to the ideology of racial superiority try to justify themselves though is commendable.

The same can be said for the acting. Depp’s performance as the villain is spot-on. Despite the many awe-inspiring performances he has given us, it is still unfortunate that he has played few villains and that he has stuck to playing strange, likeable and ultimately virtuous characters.

But neither Depp, Jude Law or Redmayne are able to save the movie. The petty attempt at trying to make a trilogy out of a thinly drawn story is too glaring and is overshadowing the justification for watching it, which is the fact that this is a prequel to the Harry Potter franchise.

PUBLISHED ON Nov 27,2018 [ VOL 19 , NO 970]

Share this...

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Linkedin

Related Posts

Viewpoints | Aug 18,2024

Leadership on Trial as Financial Crimes Erode Economic Stability

Verbatim | Jun 29,2024

"Economic crimes are on the rise."

Films Review | Aug 10,2019

HORRIBLE FRANCHISE PRESENTS: HOBBS AND SHAW

Films Review | Aug 10,2019

HORRIBLE FRANCHISE PRESENTS: HOBBS AND SHAW

Verbatim | May 06,2023

"Lasting peace and to address war crimes."

Films Review | Feb 29,2020

FANTASY ISLAND, NOT AUDIENCE'S FANTASY

---