10 Movies Totally Ruined By Fan Service

6. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald

Though the first Fantastic Beasts movie wasn't great, it at least had a confident enough vision that it didn't feel the need to over-indulge on the Harry Potter fan service, serving as a solid enough base for future movies.

The sequel, The Crimes of Grindelwald, sadly lacked the same self-assuredness, with writer J.K. Rowling plunging deep into Potter lore for two-plus-hours of patronising - and arguably continuity-derailing - silliness.

While Jude Law deserves praise for his charming if shoehorned presence as a young Dumbledore, the entire Hogwarts section of the movie feels both desperate and pandering.

This is especially true with the appearance of a young Professor McGonagall (Fiona Glascott), while the decision to give Voldemort's pet snake Nagini (Claudia Kim) a human origin story is questionable at best.

But worst of all is the film's big twist, that Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller) is actually a secret Dumbledore brother, Aurelius, a reveal so head-smackingly convoluted it still has Potter fans debating just how precisely it contradicts established Potter lore.

Reviews were mixed and the movie's box office ultimately came in below expectations, which combined with its Johnny Depp-centric PR issues, prompted Warner Bros. to delay the third film by a year to do some behind-the-scenes re-jigging.

It'll be interesting to see whether or not The Crimes of Grindelwald's mediocrity broke the spell for fans, or whether they'll be lured back by a (hopefully) more compelling story and smarter approach to fan service.