Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald Review

In the year 1927, the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA) is in the process of placing Gellert Grindelwald into the custody of the London Ministry of Magic for his crimes in Europe. As they are leaving, Grindelwald is quickly freed by one of his followers and kills his guards, escaping with their transfer carriage.

Three months after Grindelwald’s escape, Newt Scamander is speaking with the Ministry of Magic, in hopes that they will give him back his international travel rights, which he had lost after the events that place during his previous trip to New York. While at the Ministry, he runs into Leta Lestrange, his former classmate from Hogwarts who is engaged to his brother, Theseus, who is an auror for the Ministry. The Ministry offers to give Newt his traveling rights back if he agrees to assist his brother in finding Credence Barebone,  an Obscurial who has resurfaced in Paris. It is revealed that there are rumors about him being Corvus Lestrange, Leta’s long-lost brother and the last of a long line of pureblood wizards. Newt declines, choosing not to pick sides, resulting of him not recieving his traveling rights, and an auror by the name of Grimmson sent to find Credence instead. After leaving the Ministry, Newt meets with Albus Dumbledore, a Hogwarts professor and the only equal of Grindelwald. During their meeting, Dumbledore also tasks Newt with finding Credence, as he is a danger to himself and to others around him. Though Newt is relunctant to accept, Dumbledore gives him a card with the address to a safe house in Paris, telling him that it must be Newt, as he is unable to make a move against Grindelwald.

Meanwhile in Paris, Grindelwald and his followers secure themselves a base of operations, killing the previous owners of the house to take it as their own. In th room beside them, they find the child of the young couple they had killed, who has no understanding of what is going on. Grindelwald then has one of his followers, Carrow, perform the Killing Curse on the child.

Back in London, Newt returns home to his assistant Bunty, who is having trouble with his Kelpie (a large magic water horse). After dealing with the Kelpie and a few baby Nifflers, they hear a noise coming from above them, to which Newt tells Bunty to go home. During his investigation of the noise,  he is surprised to find Jacob Kowalski and Queenie Goldstein in his room, having apparated from New York. Newt is surprised that Jacob has retained his memories from their time in New York, but it is revealed that the Oblivation only took away bad memories, where as Jacob had mostly good ones with Queenie filling him in on the bad parts. It is revealed a little bit later that Queenie’s sister, Tina, had not come with them and was seeing another auror after seeing a mistake in a magazine that stated that Newt was engaged to Leta rather than Theseus. Newt later suspects that Queenie has enchanted Jacob into coming to Europe in the hopes that the two of them get married due to the laws in America about relationships between wizards and Muggles/No-Majes, and she reluctantly allows him to lift the enchantment. Afterwards, the two get into an argument, in which Queenie reads Jacobs mind and hears him call her crazy, resulting in her leaving to go find Tina. Newt then takes Jacob as they decide to travel to Paris

In Paris, we find that Credence has been working at a wizarding freak show by the name of Circus Arcanus under the cruel ringmaster Skender. In his time there, he has grown close to Nagini, a Maledictus who is fated to permanately become a snake. Skender is puts on a show using Nagini, at which Tina is attending. Credence releases small creatures into the show, whose sparks light the tent ablaze and create chaos. With this distraction, Credence and Nagini are to escape. Skender simple packs up the show and leaves, leaving Tina alone as she is approached by Yusuf Kama, who was also at the show in search of Credence