Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

"Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald should come with a disclaimer: that Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is essential viewing before entering the cinema (and the expanding Wizarding World is helpful reading). There’s Young Dumbledore (or 'Yum-bledore' – thanks Tumblr). There are flashes of Hogwarts and delightfully era-appropriate earlier versions of the classic uniform for those of you craving more of what eight incredible movies (and seven novels) set there. However, lower your wands and your expectations – it’s a part two of five."

"Eddie Redmayne returns to take on Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) in the second instalment of J.K. Rowling's fantasy adventure series. The film opens nationwide tomorrow with advanced screenings happening tonight in select cinemas."

"This befuddling parade of Potterishness, including a nostalgic excursion to Hogwarts, is powered by a corresponding excess of plot."

"Both boring and offensively convoluted..."

"With such a stacked human cast, perhaps it’s no surprise the creatures lose out on screen time, and that audiences lose out on cohesion."

"It’s less a necessary new chapter in this ongoing story than the movie-shaped equivalent of memorabilia..."

"The unindoctrinated will be confused; the admirers, disappointed."

""Fantastic Beasts" assumes a similar level of engagement with its swollen dramatis personae, without allowing the time or putting in the work to earn it."

"With its callbacks to the Potter universe and a lovely eye for detail, The Crimes of Grindelwald has bags of intermittent charm and a warm familiarity. But too often, it feels like a beast that's been overburdened."

"Rowling has surrendered to her maximalist tendencies and so cluttered up the story that you spend far too much time trying to untangle who did what to whom and why."

"The architectural detail of JK Rowling's creativity is as awe-inspiring as ever."

"If you're a true fan, these are the moments you live for. For the rest of us, maybe getting there a bit quicker and with a few less diversions, would have been appreciated."

"For those already locked into her [JK Rowling's] Wizarding World, you won't mind the length and occasionally confusing scenes and will already be theorising about what happens next."

"It offers up dazzling feats of sorcery and realms of wonderment and manages to conjure the very opposite of magic."

"That the film remains enticing despite its evolving, still-pallid hero speaks to Rowling's storytelling strengths."

"The second chapter in JK Rowling's five-part story, it's a film stuffed with characters, big moments and impressive spectacle but still feels bizarrely underpowered."

"An unfocused, overwhelming and ultimately numbing sprawl that seems to drag on forever."