Erika (17789 KP) rated Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) in Movies
Nov 16, 2018 (Updated Nov 19, 2018)
I am completely torn on this one, I liked some parts, but hated others. I also really can't stand Johnny Depp, and I rolled my eyes to myself every time he was on screen...
In my book, Jude Law was playing Richard Harris' Dumbledore, not... Michael Gambon (Don't even get me started on Gambon: 'Did you put your name in the goblet of fire, Harry?' Dumbledore asked CALMLY). So, it was a good way to go.
I did not like the way they went with some characters, namely one, who was rumored to go to Grindelwald's camp. Making a likeable character slightly deranged was irritating. There was a name drop at Hogwarts that had to have been a relative, unless the original character became an adult professor before she was technically born...
However, the possible recons that occurred didn't mess with canon as badly as that terrible Cursed Child mess.
It was largely predictable, and even the end, it was all foreshadowed, and not in a good way. The best bits were of Newt with the beasts... I liked Eddie Redmayne, as always, but can we please stop calling these movies Fantastic Beasts? 6 for him and the Niffler alone.
I wanted to largely stay away from a comparison, but I feel like Rowling is going the George Lucas route. And, that's not a compliment.
David McK (3918 KP) rated Before They are Hanged: The First Law: Book Two in Books
Jan 28, 2019
This is also a true sequel to the previous, in that if you hadn't read the earlier you wouldn't have a clue what was going on/who was who. As before, this pretty much jumps between characters chapter by chapter, while the novel is also split into two distinct sections, with the split coming roughly at around the halfway mark with the fall of Dagoska after the torturer Superior Glotka is recalled.
Of them all, I have to say, I found 'his' chapters to be the most interesting, in particular his continued snarkiness to any and all around him.
I also found this to be very much a bridge novel - after being introduced to the characters in [b: The Blade Itself|68616|The Blade Itself|Marcus Sakey|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1437443720s/68616.jpg|1002512], a lot of this seemed to be setting the scene for what-I-imagine-will-be the events in [b: The Last Argument of Kings|944076|Last Argument of Kings (The First Law, #3)|Joe Abercrombie|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1302062699s/944076.jpg|929012].
However, I need a break from all the darkness now for a while!
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