Fantastic Beasts 3 - What Needs to Happen to Right the Franchise?

Fantastic Beasts 3 - What Needs to Happen to Right the Franchise?

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindewald was one of the most disappointing films that I've seen this year. But because I love this franchise so much and because JK Rowling has promised us answers that will satiate our thirst for more, I'm going to holdout for a third. And a fourth, and a fifth. But for now, what does Rowling have to do to right the ship? 

**WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR FANTASTIC BEASTS THE CRIMES OF GRINDEWALD AHEAD. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED**

As She's Said, Give Us Answers...

Rowling has promised us answers, and she better deliver. The thing about The Crimes of Grindwald that was most infuriating was the sheer amount of questions it brought up and how little it delved to answer them. The problem with knowing that you have five movies is that you feel that you can dangle these questions over us and then not answer them because you know answers will come. But in reality, that makes for a rather poor film, which is what Crimes of Grindewald ended up being.

...That Make Narrative Sense

When Rowling says she has answers, she may very well be right. But they better make sense. I've been reading articles and I myself have been bending over backwards trying to justify how in the world Credence could be a Dumbledore. And yes, there are many, many plausible answers. But the fact of the matter is that not many of them are satisfying at all. So Rowling may be tempted to give us an answer, but in reality, if it's convoluted, even more confusing, or makes us bend even further backward to see her reasoning, then I'm not quite sure answering it in the first place was worth it. For that matter, I'm not quite sure if raising the question at all was worth it. Which begs the question: What was the point of this movie? 

Focus on a Few Characters...

I think one of the primary problems that this film had was the overabundance of characters. You look at one of the first promo photos that they released, and you see so many characters, but half of them you haven't seen before and another fourth you don't really care about. And the film felt burdened by the pressure to answer our questions about all of them while also feeling somewhat relevant.

...Mainly Newt, Dumbledore, and Grindewald...

As seen in the image above, it's really going to boil down to those three main characters. It's fine if you're going to focus on Dumbledore and Grindewald and build up to their big duel in the fifth film. That's absolutely fine. But you started this franchise as Fantastic Beasts not Dumbledore v. Grindewald: Dawn of Justice. Newt is equally as important, and in my opinion, should more important than either of those two if you're going to continue to use the name Fantastic Beasts. This movie made Newt feel unimportant. It felt like he had no place in this grand scheme of an imminent duel. 

...Which Means It's Time to Get Rid of Some of the Side Characters

Which means it may be time to say goodbye to some of the supporting cast. As much as I loved Jacob Kowalski from the first film, he was almost entirely unnecessary in this movie. Characters like him and Queenie have no place in a story like this, and it may also be time to see Tina off as well. These characters don't bring anything to the franchise, quite frankly, and as the story progresses further, the cast list may grow smaller and smaller. 

In Short, Prioritize

The character problem brings light to the overall problem, which is prioritization. As an author, I know the temptation to put every single subplot into a narrative. And in some ways, a novel does afford you that luxury. You can put B-plots and C-plots and have them intertwine in the confines of 200 pages (or 1000 in Rowling's case). But the reality is; in a movie, you cannot do that. You need to prioritize what your important story lines are and go with them. For example, a gargantuan film like Avengers: Infinity War didn't spend thirty minutes on Vision and Wanda, thirty minutes on Spider-Man going to MOMA, thirty minute son Thanos and Gamora, etc. Otherwise the film would have been five hours long and then some. The reality is that Rowling needs to realize some of her storylines aren't as important as others, and needs to cut some. 

It's Not Just About Fan Service

It was great seeing Hogwarts. Seeing the floating candles did touch my heart a little in a place that I hadn't realized was there (a place of Harry Potter nostalgia). But the moment passed almost as soon as it had come as I stopped to wonder what the point of it was. Adding Professor McGonagall was a nice touch until you stop and think, "she wasn't even born during this film". And if you want to say that only super fans will recognize this, I challenge you that super fans are the ONLY ones who will even recognize her. Rowling needs to understand that fan service works, but it needs to work in the larger context of the story.