Johnny Kitties: Celebrating Johnny Depp Film #56. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)

[What is Johnny Kitties? See Johnny Kitties: Celebrating Johnny Depp for all the details. Visit the Johnny Kitties page for a full list of Johnny Depp's filmography and links to all previous Johnny Kitties blog posts.]

"The Wizarding World is a mirror of our world, and we're talking about a period in Wizarding history when there was a rise of what I would call Wizarding Nationalism, if you like, so it's a form of a populist hero, a very populist hero. He's a very different baddie. Grindelwald's far easier to like, which makes him quite dangerous." J.K. Rowling

"Grindelwald, to me, represents a side of the Wizarding World. He has the power, the magic of the wand, and all that, but I think, more than anything, he seems to have a psychological edge on most." Johnny Depp

What's happening? 

In 1927 London, Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) escapes imprisonment and gets to work winning over followers, most of whom are unaware of his true goal to have pure-blood wizards ruling over everyone else. Professor Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) is on to this scheme and enlists his star student, Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), to help him stop Grindelwald. To help him stop Dumbledore, Grindelwald finds Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller), who has turned up in Paris. In Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, the second installment of the Fantastic Beasts franchise, almost everyone picks a side as these two leaders prepare for the ultimate battle for supremacy.

How did we get here?
I've never read the Harry Potter books, and I only binge-watched the movies a few years ago, even though I tried watching them with my nephew several times before. Every time I tried to watch the first Harry Potter movie, I fell asleep within five minutes. I realized that this happened because I had no idea what anyone was talking about, using the unique terms of Harry Potter's world. I tuned out conversations as if they were in a foreign language. Once I got passed that initial confusion, however, I loved the Harry Potter movies just as I thought I would! The trouble with binge-watching them is that they have now run together in my head. I am still a Harry Potter beginner, who is always a bit confused and too unfamiliar (so please be kind if I mix up some details).

Still, it was magic that made me catch up on Harry Potter just before it was announced that Johnny signed on to star in the Harry Potter prequel franchise Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and four more related films, uncovering the past of beloved Professor Dumbledore and his rival. Don't you agree?

I didn't create an illustration for 2016's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the first Fantastic Beasts movie, which premiered in 2016, because Johnny was only in it for about two minutes. My options were to draw either the back of his head or an action shot of him being whisked away to prison.

I liked this dark adventure in the Potterverse. Newt Scamander arrives in New York to find a lost magical beast and save it in the fantastic beast sanctuary hidden in his suitcase. While there, things don't go exactly as planned.

This film sets up the Fantastic Beasts saga's characters: In addition to Newt, there's his love Tina (an American witch who tried to get him arrested, played by Katherine Waterston), a baker named Jacob (Dan Fogler), and his love (and Tina's sister) Queenie (Alison Sudol). The dark side of this movie stems from troubled teen Credence (Ezra Miller), who was adopted and subsequently emotionally and physically abused for years by his crazy mother (Samantha Morton).

Credence meets Percival Graves (Colin Farrell), who promises to get him away from her if he helps him locate a child with great powers. But it turns out that Graves is evil and Credence is the child with great powers. Credence is possessed by an obscurial, an abstract dark entity. When his rage gets the best of him, the obscurial takes over and causes destruction all over New York.

In the end, Credence is gone. Graves is arrested, and his true identity is revealed: Graves is really Grindelwald!

Now what? 

Are you confused yet? (The Pirates movies seem so much easier to explain than these ones!) I must admit, I liked Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them better than Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. This time, instead of the language putting me to sleep, the special effects did. Don't get me wrong – some of the special effects are really cool! But my admitted newness to and unfamiliarity with this magical world made it harder for me to follow the story, and I found some of the special effects to be too, too much.

Who cares? Johnny looks great! I love his spiky bleach-blonde Billy Idol-ish hair, weird David Bowie-esque eyes, and black outfit! This is a wizard I could get behind, if only he were a good guy. Most of the time, he walks around looking like a menace and gets his followers to do his dirty work while he makes enticing speeches to convince everyone to come over to the dark side. It was a slight letdown after dreaming about Johnny sharing scenes with Jude Law, but I guess I have to wait.

Who's the bad guy?

My favorite part of this movie is the first 10 minutes before the title even appears. The film opens, showing Grindelwald imprisoned in London's Ministry of Magic. He looks weak and defeated with long gray hair and expressionless face, as he watched a fly spark off of the invisible bubble that he's trapped in.

He's been there for six months, and it's time to transfer him back to New York to answer for his crimes. I love how he literally floats up the stairs in chains, past the other jail cells, and ultimately escapes amid stormy skies from the carriage drawn by flying dragon-horse-like creatures, who intended to transport him to America. He was just waiting for the right moment to make his move.

I think The Kitties got it.



Where is Johnny?

© Reynaud Julien/ABACA/INSTARimages.com

Last year, Johnny was touring with The Hollywood Vampires, who released a second album, called Rise. For this album, Johnny wrote several of the songs, and he also sings David Bowie's "Heroes," which the band performed on TV first on Jimmy Kimmel Live and then on The Late Late Show with James Corden.

Then, Johnny went to Europe, publicizing his next film Waiting for the Barbarians (which will be out on demand and DVD this August). He made stops at the Venice Film Festival and received a silver plaque and tribute, presented by Catherine Deneuve, at the 45th Deauville American Film Festival.

This year, everyone's at home because of the global pandemic. Johnny's been in France and he joined Instagram! Also, today is his birthday; happy birthday, Johnny! Later this summer, the third installment in the Fantastic Beasts series should begin filming.

What's next?
Johnny is The Professor, someone who learns to appreciate and live his live to the fullest in the time he has left. 

All film images © Warner Brothers; illustration © Melissa Connolly