Fantastic Beasts: 10 Reasons Why The Crimes Of Grindelwald Is A Massive Disappointment

Eddie Redmayne's Newt Scamander was a surprisingly enjoyable off-kilter protagonist in the first film. Between Newt, Jacob, Tina, and Queenie, that film boasted a solid ensemble cast who was, at the very least, fun to watch and had good chemistry.

In this second installment though, the cracks are beginning to show. That central group is separated for the entirety of the film and even as the film is overrun with extraneous characters and subplots, Rowling's script continuously returns to Newt as the center of it all, with him acting as a more direct protagonist here. And it is for the worse.

Amidst the ensemble in the prior film, Newt was endearingly goofy. But here, Redmayne's stunted delivery and schtick grow old very quickly.

Not only is Newt not anywhere near as compelling as previous franchise lead, Harry Potter, he isn't even as compelling as Ron. He's a two-dimensional character who doesn't grow or have anything resembling an arc in this film, instead just wasting lots of the audience's time attempting to tell Tina she looks like a salamander.