“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” did well (in addition to being a Potter spinoff) mostly due to a sense of magical charm that gave the movie a vibrant, lively feel. This same magic unfortunately seems to be mostly absent from The Crimes of Grindelwald. In addition to the bleak atmosphere (which is somewhat fitting given that the film is essentially about a figurehead stirring up racist sentiment and the tension that ensues), this film suffers the most from issues in pacing and exposition. I spent much of the first half absolutely confused as to anything that was going on. Characters felt tacked on and thrown in, with arbitrary plotlines that seemed to go nowhere. The whole affair felt very ‘episodic’, as if more thought was given to setting up a series of movies under the Potter banner than was given to fleshing out this individual chapter of it. Unfortunately forgettable.