Film Preview: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)

Page Revisions:

(March 18, 2018) Original
(July 29, 2018) New Trailer (#2) / New Posters (#2-#3)
(September 30, 2018) New Trailer (#3) / New Posters (#4-#13)
(November 11, 2018) New Posters (#14-#30)

Release Date:

November 16, 2018

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “The second installment of the “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” franchise which follows the adventures of Newt Scamander.”

Poster Rating: C / B / C- / C+ (10) / C+ / C+ (5) / C / C / C- (6) / C / C / C+

SEE ALL POSTERS BELOW
Review: (#1) Teaser posters are intended to pull the audience into the theater before a trailer is seen or a promotion is run. This one does a terrific job setting that up, even if the background, cheesy as it is, isn’t particularly exciting.

(#2) The intricate panel design is reminiscent of the period the film is set in, but it also doesn’t have the kind of depth one would expect from an Art Deco motif. (#3) With all of that white blanks space, everything’s focused in, but not with any particular enticement.

(#4-#13) These character posters have an interesting framing, but aren’t particularly engaging otherwise.

(#14) The blank background doesn’t embellish the design, but there is something of a foggy air to this, which does embellish its content with numerous figures standing against a monster. (#15-#19) The Eiffel Tower motif that seems to be dominating a lot of these latter design is more surreptitious here as the circular design in the background is suggestive. If only the foreground images were more interesting in this character set. (#20) The almost serpentine design is interesting, but doesn’t feel fitting to everything we’ve seen so far. (#21) The Eiffel Tower designs within the poster’s borders are interesting, but insufficient to keep the design from feeling a bit dull. Plus there’s no seeming purpose for this array of characters.

(#22-#27) This series of six posters, which highlight various fantastic beasts are meant to be displayed together, side-by-side as a single image. That doesn’t make them great, though they do look like they’d feel at home on a six-panel shoji screen. (#28) The frosty/foggy imagery continues in this design with a little more sense to the array of character, but not enough to pull the design from mediocrity. (#29) This posed, dull design has a nicer blue coloring than the other whiter designs, but it’s still simplistic and unappealing. (#30) This looks more like something that might accompany a Doctor Who film than a Wizarding World film. There are a lot of details and the golden hue is appealing, but the overall design isn’t that interesting.

Trailer Rating: B- / A- / B+

SEE ALL TRAILERS BELOW
Review: (#1) Far more than just a teaser, this full-blown trailer features plenty of information about the film’s premise and plot and re-introduces a lot of our favorite characters from the first film. It doesn’t have enough humor and doesn’t put forth everyone it should, but it’s a solid start.

(#2) The excitement for a new Wizarding World experience is high after this trailer, which features plenty of magic and excitement to help us get invested in the further expansion of the new world.

(#3) Throwing everything at the wall in hopes something will stick is a solid, if misused technique in trailer design. This one does a lot of that. Fans of the franchise will see a lot to be excited about. Non-fans will be uninspired. The only really frustrating part is that Johnny Depp is A) still a part of the film and B) is so prominently contained in the film based on the trailer.

Oscar Prospects:

The first film managed to pull off an Oscar win when no one thought it would be a major player. The second film will have a tougher time because it will “look the same” as the prior installment, but it could still pick up nominations.