Plot? What plot?

Rating: 4/10 (1 April 2019)

Being the big Harry Potter fan that I am, I was really looking forward to this. However, I was immensely disappointed. There's really not much plot happening in this, and it's very obviously a cash-grab riding on the coat-tails of the rest of the series to get it anywhere. But then again, the writers did basically take what was essentially a Zoo Book of magical animals and tried to turn it into a movie. This was basically the whole movie: "Oh look, a magical beast that escaped is over there. Lets go catch it. Look, there's another one. Lets catch. Look, another one. Lets catch it. By the way, there's some wizard kid over there who's getting abused and might be dangers. Oh look, another beast is over there. Lets go catch it." That's pretty much the whole movie.
Ok, so there is a bit more. They try and force this whole thing with Grindelwald being in the background with some BS magical investigation, but the whole thing is utterly ridiculous. Even the characters are underwhelming. Newt is an uninteresting, no-personality, oddball. Tina is this unemotional, pathetic, weak-willed woman who just sort of wanders around. Queenie is amusing, but is an over the top ditz who talks and acts like she's in a trance all the time. The only worthwhile character is Jacob, who's amusing, fun to watch, and full of personality.
The best thing about this movie is the special effects. It really doesn't have much of a story, and is obviously just hoping that the Harry Potter brand will rake in the money. It also tries, and fails, to add to the Harry Potter lore by creating things that did not appear in any of the novels or anything Rowling ever created. When it comes down to it, this movie is just something to watch when you're bored and there's nothing else on to watch.