Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald Review - 5 Ups & 7 Downs

3. Newt Is A Passenger In His Own Movie

Newt Scamander is of course the protagonist of the Fantastic Beasts franchise, though if you went into this movie cold, you'd hardly know it. Newt spends a shocking amount of the film either totally off-screen or simply hanging out in the background like a piece of furniture.

He doesn't do a whole lot beyond follow the breadcrumbs and listen to people drop exposition - but more on that in a moment - and given Redmayne's charm in the role, it's a damn shame he's given so little to do.

This again speaks to the complaint about the movie having too many characters to work with. Had Rowling opted for a more intimate, thinned-down canvas, then maybe Newt wouldn't have seemed like he was strapped into an on-rails rollercoaster ride.