#they’re so real for their villainy and it’s entertaining I’m not sorry

[echovale052]

Why is it whenever I find a new story my silly goofy little golden retriever brain goes omg the villain lady! Yeah. Because that was a good idea… I can list so many.

[wolfboyvirus]

Concepts that Megamind (2010) represented incredibly well but got no attention for

Societal expectations and their traumatic effects on adults and children alike ("I'm the bad guy. I don't save the day, I don't fly off into the sunset, and I don't get the girl.")

The lasting effects of bullying and being bullied (such as: self-consciousness, depression, anxiety, and just general unhappiness)

Treating others differently based on physical differences (commonly grouped into the broader term of racism, though it isn't necessarily the same thing)

And the consequences of such behavior never being corrected until it's too late

Nature vs nurture

The horror of incels/nice guys, and the daily struggle that they bring to women. Especially when, in this society, there's a big chance that the woman would just be accused of "overreacting" and "getting too emotional" when she reports it to someone

Every single character in this movie has absorbed some bad concept into their personality (even innocent little Minion), and they can't even really be blamed. It's the same for basically everyone in real life, too, which is pretty sad. Its just that humanity itself has somehow gotten so bad that these ideas have become justified, and nobody really knows any better until its way too late.

And now for some quotes that explain the general idea much better than i ever could in my own words

"There's a benefit to losing: you get to learn from your mistakes."

"Maybe I don't want to be the bad guy anymore!"

"Funny; I guess destiny is not the path given to us, but the path we choose for ourselves."

"Even the most heartfelt belief can be corroded over time!"

"Sorry, sorry! He's just not used to positive feedback!"

I know the last two were used for comedic purposes, but they're actually pretty meaningful when you look closely

Bonus: Megamind: The Button of Doom

Anxiety

More anxiety

All the anxiety

Fearing not doing something correctly, and trying to copy someone else so you don't fuck it up (Ex: a newbie artist copying someone's art because they don't think people would like their art style)

Did i mention anxiety

Embracing yourself for who you are and what you've done, even if you've done some pretty bad things in your past

Speaking of past, i feel like Megamind fighting his old evil robot and winning by making his big realization about being himself is a metaphor about fighting the demons of his past. The robot would be representing Megamind's past, the villainy and the bullying and all, and his victory is supposed to represent him starting over, and understanding that he doesn't have to be the evil alien screw-up anymore. He has a choice, now, a chance to be what he truly wants to be, and this first victory of his is telling us that he's sure as hell gonna take it. It's amazing how that all works out, isn't it?

TL;DR: Megamind is incredible and speaks on a lot of ignored problems that you rarely see represented in movies made for the demographic that Dreamworks aims to entertain. Okay thanks for coming to my ted talk bye

(I was planning on making a much more detailed version of this but i dont feel like writing the 3 page essay required to fully describe my thoughts about this awesome movie so you can have this)

[anotheranimestan]

Criminal Behavior

Dabi angst + chaotic energy + a lil suggestive language

Disclaimer: I don’t condone any of y/n’s behavior here. Y/n is a bad role model lol

wc: 3.5k

Raise your hand if you want Dabi to teach you how to be a villain! 🙋‍♀️ he could teach me a lot of things 🤤

You had a date tonight. With some guy who you were honestly not that into. So you agreed to his “wanna hang out tonight” text. He probably only wanted to hook up. Boring. And you’d definitely turn him down. But you needed something to do. Some entertainment.

Despite the level of disinterest you were still going to look nice. You needed some new make-up but of course you had no fucking money. You’d just have to ‘borrow’ some from the convenience store down the road. It’s not like you haven’t done it a million times. No one gets hurt. Not really a big deal.

Plus the little bursts of adrenaline you get during that final moment of walking through the censors was somewhat addictive if you were honest. Life in your town was so unbelievably boring. There weren’t even any good villains around to watch get beat up. You needed some sort of thrill to get through the day.

When you entered the store there were a few people around. No one you recognized luckily. You’d developed a little bit of a method to this game. You’d monitored the isles and cameras. No one was anywhere in sight. You’d managed to get a bunch of the good stuff and slip it into your sleeves and waistband without any eyebrows raised.

You were deciding on which eyeliner you wanted when an abrupt voice pierced you, making you jump.

“What’re you doing?”

“Huh?” You spun to look at the inevitable. Some employee or back room security man coming to take you to convenience store prison.

But when you saw the man peering down at you, you were far more scared. You wished it was an employee.

“Did I scare you?” His voice was thick with amusement and he rested an arm against the shelves.

You’d never seen a sight like him. Mildly horrifying. Staples lining his face, holding together sections of his skin, if you could call it all that. Spiked black hair over deep hooded eyes that looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks. He looked like he could easily kill you and nobody would find the body. But at the same time, for some reason, he was undeniably hot. You didn’t know how to reconcile his ominous vibe that he has with his playful, interested tone. It was like you’d just told him a joke. Except you hadn’t said a single word yet.

“What? You don’t want to talk to me?” He pressed with a smirk as he watched you gawk at him.

Your heart was racing in mild horror. But something about his tone struck a nerve. It felt like he was toying with you. And you hated that.

“Uh, who are you?” You said suddenly remembering where you were and just what you were doing. “Do you work here or something?”

“Does it look like I work here?”

He had a point. His absurd amount of piercings and his ripped jeans said he didn’t work anywhere respectable. However, the thick dark chained jewelry that weighed down his neck and wrists and the expensive sneakers on his feet said he had no problem getting money.

“You going out tonight?” He questioned, blatantly looking you up and down.

“What?” You spewed, feeling extremely self-conscious of his traveling eyes.

“I mean shit, with all the make-up and shit shoved in your pockets I just assumed...”

Your body froze. He’d caught you? Did he actually work here, was he lying? “...Not to mention the bottle of liquor you hid under your shirt...” How did he see that? You did have a small bottle of alcohol stashed in your bra but nobody was in any of the isles with you. You hadn’t seen him in the store at all since you’d arrived here, you definitely would have noticed him. “...If you’re going on a date you should really find a guy who can get all this stuff for you instead...”

Fear really started gripping you at these realizations. Plus he was minding no attention to his volume. He was basically outing you to the whole store. Your fear melted into anger. This fucker definitely didn’t work here. Just like you thought, he was fucking with you. Your temper started flaring up in your face making it hot.

“Shoplifting is the gateway drug to villainy you know. And that’s a rough world kid. I’m not sure if you could handle it...”

Kid? He looked barely older than you. And he was starting to get really annoying. At this rate he was going to get you caught.

“Speaking from experience?” You jutted back, looking around to see if any employees were hearing this.

He chuckled again. “No, I don’t do drugs.” He stated with a grin and a poor attempt at sounding sincere.

You scoffed. “I seriously doubt that.”

“Why—”

“Did you want something? Cause if not I’ve got somewhere to be.”

He looked at you for a moment. Soaking up the irritated look on your face. Dying to get away from him. Desperate not to get caught. It was cute. He merely shrugged. It was honest. He wasn’t sure exactly what he wanted from you yet.

The irritation now bubbling over, you huffed and walked away. What a waste of time. Surely you look suspicious now. You were monitoring the isles as you headed to the door. No one seemed to be looking. You were about to make a run for it when you heard some footsteps directly behind you and felt eyes on the back of your head.

“The alarms are going to go off.”

You hissed, dipping into a snack isle as an employee’s head started turning in your direction. Why was he talking so fucking loud?

“Can you shut up?”

He put a hand over his heart dramatically. “Is that how you repay me for trying to help you?”

“Help me?! You’re going to get me caught. So can you just fuck off—”

“Oy.” He growled. Sending a wave a intimidation to wash away any bit of confidence you had mustered up. “Go ahead and walk out the door then if you want. Fucking amateur.”

You were about to run but self-doubt washed over you. He did seem like he’d know about this better than you.

Mid-thought, his movements shocked you. He was standing so closely now, with that same face of complete intimidation as before. His eyes steady on your features, not breaking away for a moment. Without even having to look, he slowly slipped his fingers under your shirt. You weren’t even breathing at this point as your heart started throwing itself around your chest. If it were anyone else you’d immediately deck him for touching you like this but for some reason he felt like a near death experience. He had you completely frozen in fear and adrenaline, victim to whatever he wanted to do to you. His fingers were warm as they grazed the skin on your stomach, sending streaks of electricity to the part of your brain that was sounding off warning alarms. He pulled the bottle of alcohol out slowly from your bra.

He smirked as you stared at him wide-eyed. Like he’d just blown some fuses in your brain.

He turned the bottle so you could see a little black tag on the bottom. You hadn’t noticed it before.

“A sensor. They’re new.” Was all he had to say and you knew you had almost completely fucked up. You were beating your head against a wall knowing you’d have to acknowledge this guy was right. Except the look on his face told you he was already enjoying every second of this.

“Okay, fuck, you got me. You were right.” You said suddenly exploding. Your mind was overloading with information. You’d expected this to be a simple thing. And this asshole just shows up out of nowhere for no reason.

“You’re supposed to say thank you.”

You scoffed. “For what? You gonna buy it for me or something?”

He considered this for a moment. “No.”

You shot him a incredulous look. “The fuck? Then what do you want?”

“Honestly it was painful watching you attempt this half-assed little petty theft.”

“Well sorry to dissapp—”

“And despite this nasty little attitude you’ve got...” He continued with a devious grin. “I’m gonna show you how it’s really done.”

“How what’s done? Taking make-up?”

“Robbery.” He deadpanned.

Your insides exploded now. You didn’t even bother mistaking that for a joke.

“Um no—”

“Don’t be a pussy.”

“What?! Are you fucking crazy?”

“Yea.”

“No! I’m not—”

“It’s either this or I’ll call over that guy.” He pointed to an unknowing employee stocking shelves. “And show him this.” He yanked up your shirt now to expose all the shit you had tucked into your waistband and bra.

You hissed again, yanking your shirt down, but words drained out of your brain. He was seriously dangerous. It was written all over that amused look on his face as he watched your face go red from him being under your shirt twice already after meeting him literally five minutes ago.

You felt like he’d sucked the air out of the room. How was nobody hearing this? How had you fallen into this psycho’s trap?

“Fuck.” Slipped out under your breath.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” He cooed in your ear as he started to walk past you. “Stay here.”

You immediately considered running as he disappeared around the corner of the isle. But now you didn’t know how much of this merchandise in your clothing had censors. And you couldn’t take it all out without that employee noticing for sure.

Fight or flight was wrestling in your brain. Red flags were gleaming in your eyes as the alarms in your head continued blaring in your ears. You should have ran before he even had the chance to speak to you. But that’s not really how you felt. Something about him was addicting already.

He was exhilarating in the worst and best kind of way. Even now his short absence had you dying to know where he went and when he’d come back.

Then, like someone stabbed you in the ears, the alarms in your head were drowned out by the sudden blaring of real alarms in the store. You nearly jumped out of your skin. Looking around, the employees were looking around in shock. People started rushing past you with concerned faces as they evacuated the store.

You just spun around in confusion. Had he done this? Did someone set of an alarm on him? Were the police coming? You should run. You should definitely fucking run. Now would be the time. They’d never catch you with all these other alarms going off.

“Ah. Good girl. Just where I left you.” His voice was in your ear in an instant.

“Did you do this?!” You whispered wildly.

“Me? How could I have done it? Those are fire alarms.”

For some reason relief rushed over you. “Oh.”

“Put this on.” He said putting a black face mask in your hand. Did he have these on hand? To protect from smoke inhalation or something? That’s fucking weird. ”Come on.” He said strolling away like nothing. Like there wasn’t fire alarms blaring in your ears, drowning out any logic or comprehension.

You hastily put on the mask and followed his large body which was dressed in black head to toe.

Luckily it seemed like his plans were foiled. Once you got outside you could dip and escape him.

But he suddenly stopped at the check-out. A guy about the same age was standing there looking around. The store was mostly empty now of regular customers. You wondered why he hadn’t evacuated yet along with everyone—

“Okay. Make this easy on me. I’m trying to make a good first impression here.” He said to the guy.

“What?”

“You know what I mean.” He replied with a grin, discreetly gesturing to you.

“Uh...look man you should evacuate with everyone else. I don’t know where the fire is but—“

“Ah yea, about that....I am the fire.” And for the first time he smiled. A wicked smile with wide eyes and complete exhilaration on his face.

The guy jerked back at the sight of it. “The fuck?”

You gasped as he put his hand up and a blast of blue flames shot out. You could feel the heat from where you were standing behind him.

“Just give us the cash and I won’t do anything crazy. Okay?”

The guy stood like a deer in headlights. Unable to process anything as fear washed over him. You could relate. The blue flame was mirroring in your eyes as you stared at it in shock. The alarms still blaring in your ears.

But he wasn’t done yet. He raised his second hand and now both hands were ablaze. It was horrifying. The attendant scrambled to take all of the money out of the cash registers and put the stack in a shopping bag. Throwing it onto the counter and stepping as far away from the flames as possible.

“Thanks man. I’ll owe you one if this goes well.” He said with humor laced in his deep voice.

He jutted his head toward the door motioning for the guy to run. Which he did. He sprinted out the door to join everyone else who was evacuated outside.

“Ready?” He was facing you now. Putting the grocery bag of cash in his hoodie pocket.

You were definitely going to jail.

“Let’s get out of here.” He said and strolled toward the back door.

He paused for a moment in front of a stand of alcohol. Picking up two bottles after grazing over the options for a moment.

He was nearly at the door when he realized you hadn’t moved a muscle.

“They don’t let you wear make up in jail.” He called over to you. “Ugh.” He sighed. “Come on amateur. I’ll leave you here if I have to.”

Suddenly your legs sprung to life as you ran to him. “Want anything else?” He poked as he examined the adorable look of trauma riddling your blood drained face.

The back alley was empty. You heard police sirens in the distance. This guy was dragging you straight to hell with him.

You both looked up as a body flew overhead in the sky above of alley. You only saw the person for a brief moment but it didn’t take a genius to know heroes were closing in.

You needed to run. Now.

“Oh shit I forgot something.” He said in realization.

You looked at him utterly dumbfounded. What could he possibly have forgotten?!

“Be right back.” He assured as he walked back inside.

“What?!”

But he was gone. Leaving you there. The sirens were getting louder. You just wanted some fucking eyeliner.

Just then you heard an explosion. You looked up and saw the glow of bright blue flames growing in the windows.

Fuck. He was dead. This is so beyond fucking bad.

And finally after all this your flight response triggered. You started running down the alley. Except your legs only managed a slow jog as you struggled to stay in reality.

Where would you run to? Would the cops know it was you? And him? Whoever the fuck he was. Did they get you on camera?

“Wow you were just gonna leave me? That’s kinda fucked up.”

You jumped three feet as the voice appeared next to you.

“What the fuck?” You spun to see electric blue eyes looking at you under hooded eyelids.

“What?” He said with a cocked head.

“I thought you died!” You spewed, feeling almost relieved somehow that this psychopath was back.

He chuckled. “Dead? How.”

“There was a fire!” You said pointing at the growing fire inside.

“You just figured that out Sherlock? Shit I told you those were fire alarms.” He started mumbling to himself a few things under his breath that sounded like ‘you don’t look like a dumbass but who knows these days I guess.’

“Why did you go back in there?” You were yelling now. He was making you seem like the crazy one. He’s the one who basically just committed armed robbery!

You heard the rustling of plastic as he held something up for you to see. “Chips. These ones are my favorite.”

“Chips!?” You were seething now.

“Hey why are you mad? I got you some too. I didn’t know which ones you like so I just took a bunch.” He said holding up a grocery bag filled with a variety of them and the bottles from before.

You stared at him dumbfounded again. He just risked both your lives over some chips?

“I’m going to lose my mind. Or I’m currently losing my mind....” you said with wide eyes.

“Well can you hold on that for like five minutes. We still have something to do.”

“Huh?” You cried desperately.

“Get the fuck out of here before those cops come looking for us.”

He led you down the creepy dark alleyways until you could barely hear the police sirens in the background.

“So amateur, learn anything?” He crunched down on a chip.

The adrenaline was draining now and you were starting to really process what just happened.

“Yea, I learned you’re a fucking criminal.”

“You’re the one who was shoplifting.” He scoffed.

“What?! You just robbed that fucking store!”

“Why are you yelling?”

“Yelling?! You’re fucking crazy!”

“Yea and?”

“And you-you—”

He stopped in his tracks. You nearly ran into his back. He turned and faced you, towering over you. Eyes intense. His chain dangling as he leaned down closer to you. Giving you another chance to notice how strangely attractive he was.

“Are you scared or something?” He said in a deep quiet hum.

You should have just said yes. And said that he was scary. And that you wanted him to leave you alone. But you didn’t. You didn’t even want to. Despite all the shit spewing out of your mouth you’d be lying to say you weren’t high off this chaos. That he wasn’t ridiculously intriguing and sexy. That this wasnt the most exciting thing that’s ever happen in your bland life.

“No.” You lied. Hoping he’d think you weren’t fucking boring.

He grinned. “You’re a bad liar.” With one finger he hooked the side of your face mask and peeled it off to expose your lips for his admiration. “Good thing you look cute when you’re scared.”

The real scary thing here was that you were already into this psychotic criminal.

“So do I get to know your name yet?” He said playing with a strand of your hair, yet again invading your personal space with no regard.

“Y/n.”

He hummed. Like he was agreeing or something.

“I’m Dabi.” He said darkly. Leaning in even closer. He was standing so close it made you lose balance and you stumbled backwards. But he easily caught you by grabbing the front of your sweatshirt. The movement caused some the make-up you stole to fall out onto the gravel.

He laughed at you and pulled you back close to him. Which made you blush intensely.

“Speaking of which. I think we have someone to cancel on.”

Your mind flashed to your boring date tonight.

“Go on. Get out your phone.” He patiently waited with his hands in his pockets for you to bring up his messages.

Just as you went to type he snatched your phone away.

“Hey!”

He shushed you, pushing your face back to keep you at arms length as he read the last few of your messages.

“Want to hang out tonight?” He mocked. “Fuck and you said sure?” He gave you a judgmental look. “This just screams missionary.”

You squeaked at his vulgarity. “Shut up!”

He chuckled again. “Relax I’m talking about him. Although you do need higher standards. This is fucking boring.”

You shrunk in horror as he pressed the call button and put your phone to his ear.

“What are you doing?!” You hissed trying to snatch the phone back.

“Stop I’m trying to make a phone call.”

“Well I don’t want you to!” You squealed in horror.

“Why not?” He feigned confusion.

You both stopped wrestling when you heard someone answer on the other line.

“Hey man.” He smiled deviously. “Glad I caught you.” He paused. Probably listening to your date stuttering in confusion as to why a smug asshole was calling him on your number.

“Well I’m just calling to let you know y/n isn’t going to make it tonight to Netflix and chill or whatever other lame way you were going to attempt to sleep with her.” He paused again, completely ignoring your aggressive gestures to give your phone back or you’ll kill him. Surely he found you very very intimidating. “She’s cancelling on you because....well because I told her to.” He chuckled. “Shes got new plans. With me.”

He grinned down at you. Absorbing the way you were timidly looking at him now. Holding onto every word with slightly parted lips that he’d be looking forward to kissing at some point soon.

“Anyways. Don’t text her anymore or I’ll probably have to come kill you.” He chuckled again. You heard someone say something on the other line but Dabi hung up on him.

He must have noticed the look on your face. “Relax I’m kidding.” He lied, handing your phone back. “Anyways, I’m tired of this alley. You ready or what?”

You didn’t know what his plans tonight were for you yet. But you were dying to find out.

~~

Lord have mercy...he could rail me.

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[egg-emperor]

(Related to you're post) I love eggman because he is entertainig, just because i love his villainy don't mean im fine with real assholes.

(PS : Sorry for the time it take, i was busy & Sorry if my english is not great)

No need to apologize, I’m the one that’s sorry for being so late to answering this. But YES, this is exactly how I feel too!

A cool thing about fictional villains is the way they give us an opportunity to find entertainment in evil because no real people are being hurt/killed, the world isn’t genuinely in danger, etc. I love how Eggman is both such a funny but also genuinely evil asshole that does fucked up things, it's endlessly entertaining! But some of my favorite aspects of his personality and actions are things that I’ve said I wouldn’t approve of or celebrate happening irl.

Being fascinated by how villains operate and finding their evilness exciting and interesting doesn’t mean you condone it in real life. But some seem to forget that the separation is entirely possible and it’s unfortunate because they’re missing out on the fun and freedom that enjoying fictional evil has! Of course, they don’t have to like it if it’s not their thing, but they shouldn’t make others feel guilty for liking it or accuse them of being terrible people themselves.

I also wish more people realized that you don’t have to believe that a villain might not be so bad or has the possibility to change their ways to justify liking them. Redemption isn’t vital and it’s okay to want villains to stay delightfully evil! I love villainous Eggman and I’d never want to change him. I’m always hyped to see his evil ways and I have so much fun exploring it further when I write him getting up to all kinds of excitingly chaotic evil! 💜

[seriouslycromulent]

(Lengthy) Thoughts on Fantastic Beasts 2: Crimes of Grindelwald

I don’t really plan to write a full review of FB2, but since I said I was more excited for it than Widows, Aquaman, and Bohemian Rhapsody, it feels wrong not to share some general thoughts on the second installment of the Fantastic Beasts franchise. 

Especially since I just got back from seeing it a second time in the theater.

As usual, I haven’t read any reviews, nor do I plan to. I think I’ve established by now I don’t care what critics think. Never have. The only opinion that truly matters in how I view any work of art or entertainment is mine, so if you’re mostly expecting to see me repeat or refute any critics’ opinion of the film here, you might want to keep scrolling. (I address a few at the end. But it’s very cursory.)

Anyway, here are some of my reactions to FB2. And yes, there are spoilers below. I tried to keep them vague as to not give too much away, but I was not as successful in doing so as I might have hoped. You’ve been warned.

And away we go ...

Overall, I enjoyed the film greatly. It didn’t give me the warm fuzzies at the end that the first FB did, but it’s not supposed to. It’s not the first chapter that kicks off the story. It’s the next chapter that leads us down the darker path in the tale that introduces us to true struggle and turmoil that we’re going to have to deal with through the remaining 3 films.

It’s not meant to be shiny. It’s not meant to be sweet. But it is meant to present us with a few twists, turns, and new information to keep us invested in the story. And with that in mind, I was not at all disappointed.

I don’t know if I’ve communicated this yet, but I truly love the look of Fantastic Beasts in general. The 1920s is one of my favorite eras when it comes to design and history. From fashion to automobiles to architecture to hairstyles to music to literature to advancements in technology, etc., I think it’s a very underrated era when it comes to human ingenuity and cultural significance. And to set the second film in 1920s’ Paris was just brilliant. In the first film, I got to enjoy the ‘20s of New York, but now we get a splash of NYC and London, but mostly Paris as our backdrop, and the visual design and production were even more amazing.

I was nervous that they were going to use Leta Lestrange to drive a wedge between Newt and Tina, and even though they sort of did, I was happy to see it was a bit of a red herring. And she was never any real threat to Newt and Tina. Crappy love triangle averted!

Now with that out of the way, I really did feel sorry for Leta. Once we learn her backstory, it all comes together and makes sense. When she says the line, “Newt, you never met a monster you couldn’t love,” I was shook by the accuracy of that.

Newt was probably drawn to that ever-present, misunderstood sadness in Leta that he quite honestly sees in Tina as well. I like Tina, but she does have her terminal anxiety covered by that fake-it-til-you-make confidence that allows Newt to see a bit of himself in her. And I think in no small part, plays a role in their attraction to one another.

I do find it unfortunate that I’m seeing so many people rush to show concern for Queenie’s character and express empathy for her, wanting to protect that character going forward, but I see so little of that consideration and empathy shown toward Leta. Which is ... telling.

While we’re also on Leta Lestrange, I was pleasantly surprised by Zoe Kravitz’s performance. I’ve been a bit hard on her for the past year or so. Not because I don’t like her, but because, frankly, I’ve yet to see her deliver a great acting performance worthy of all the love and praise she gets from fans. I feel like most people just like her because of who her parents are, and they want to see her succeed in Hollywood because of it. But she’s yet to really impress me with her acting at all. I’m not saying she’s changed my mind entirely in FB2, but this performance was definitely one of her better and stronger ones. So kudos to her.

Now I’m not disappointed in terms of performance, but a part of me is really annoyed by Queenie in this. I get that she wants to marry Jacob, and the Ministry in America says no, but what was she thinking in enchanting Jacob?! Like he said, when was she going to wake up him? After they were married and had 5 kids? Come on, Queenie! How was that the answer to your problem?

Yes, I’m upset she joined the dark side in the end. But I’m trying to be understanding because Grindelwald is making some enticing points on why people should join him. For Queenie, she thinks that if Majs are in charge, they can get rid of this silly rule about who can marry whom. But at the same time, she knows Grindelwald is dangerous. Does she think Majs will gain control over the No-Majs without casualties? Does she even care? And with her telepathic abilities, she’s going to make Grindelwald a powerful operative -- as we saw in the end when he asked her about Credence’s mental state. Damn it, Queenie! Why did you have go to the dark side?!

It does make me wonder: If Queenie had known what Grindelwald had done to the family that originally lived in that Paris apartment, would she still have joined him? Is she willing to see innocents killed (even children) in the name of creating Maj rule just so she can marry Jacob?

Also, can someone explain to me why it was OK for Queenie to call Jacob a coward -- especially since we know he fought in the war -- but it wasn’t OK for him to think she was crazy? Why is she allowed to insult him, but he’s not allowed to insult her? Again, she annoyed me with this.

Going back to the look of the film, I not only enjoyed the production design, but I also loved the many special effects. From the Kappa (the Japanese water demon in the tub at the circus) to whatever that giant deer with the enormous jaw Newt was feeding in his lab to the Zouwu (the giant Chinese New Year dragon-meets-Falcor from Neverending Story creature) to the simple stone statue of the woman in Paris who hid the underground entrance, I thought most of the special effects were ... well, quite fantastic.

The only effect that threw me at all were the protective felines, Matagots, at the French Ministry. They not only looked disturbing, but they also didn’t look real enough. They almost felt like they stepped out of a video game. And not one of today’s video games either, but one from like 2013. Perhaps it was intentional because they’re meant to be a bit surreal with their huge eyeballs, but I’m afraid that also made them appear just a tad less believable. Which is odd considering all the things we’ve seen in the Potterverse that skirts the concept of realistic. Oh well. It wasn’t enough to make me dislike the other special effects, so I’ll shrug it off.

Shallow moment reveal: I want Tina Goldstein’s leather trench coat and I don’t even wear leather.

I adore Jacob Kowalski. That is all. Change nothing about him. 

I love that their solution to showing Young Dumbledore even younger is to remove the strands of gray he has from his beard. 

This is going to sound odd, but Callum Turner’s face is perfect for this film. Why? Because he has that classic bone structure we used to see all the time in old films from the 1920s and 30s. Seriously, put a straw boater hat on Theseus and give him a bamboo cane, and he looks like he walked out of the background of a Buster Keaton movie. Maybe it’s just the combined effect of the movie’s setting and wardrobe. Maybe it’s the fact that Callum’s skin is so damn tight across his cheekbones he looks like if he sneezes, he’s going to rip his jawline from the bone. I don’t know. But I do know that he has the perfect face for this film.

When I heard that J.K. mirrored Grindelwald’s speech at the cemetery after some of the things Hitler used to say in his speeches, I knew he was going to be a great villain. In the first Fantastic Beasts, Grindelwald is really just a boogie man. What we know of him is more in relation to how people react to him. Even when it’s revealed that he was wearing a Percival Graves-glamour to hide while doing his dirty work, we still don’t truly see him as the dangerous menace that he is. In that respect, he was a man seeking power (and Credence) to get his ultimate plan underway. The rest are newspaper headlines.

But to see Grindelwald talk to his minions in the Paris apartment and at the cemetery with such effortless manipulation was somewhat jarring. Especially when you think of present day parallels with the rise of more authoritarian regimes around the world. Grindelwald uses seductive language to coax his followers into believing their desires are born from love and a need for safety, not born from hate and fear. He tells them that No-Majs are not worthless, but simply of “other value.” He softens the declaration of war by painting what could be an impending genocide by insisting it’s for the betterment of all mankind. 

This is a villain for a story written for adults. Voldemort is for children. He doesn’t get the window-dressing and subtlety of true real-life villainy. Grindelwald, on the other hand, can exist in our world today. Voldemort cannot.

Now I’m aware that a lot of people are talking about the reveal regarding Credence’s lineage -- which was the truth bomb that left quite a few people stunned while the credits rolled. Understandably. But until I see someone piece together a theory on how Credence can be a Dumbledore (although it would lend itself to explaining his Obscurial nature), I’m inclined to believe that Grindelwald was just lying through his teeth.

When he says that the Phoenix comes to Dumbledore family members in their time of need, why did the bird that Credence was nursing suddenly transform into one? At that moment in time, Credence was not in his most need. Why wouldn’t the Phoenix have shown up in New York prior to Newt’s visit? Why didn’t the Phoenix show up after Credence had gone ballistic and ripped up half of NYC and retreated into the subway? 

Hopefully, at some point in the next film, Credence will question Grindelwald and demand some sort of proof. But even if he does, I can see Grindelwald manufacturing something semi-credible to manipulate Credence further. We’ll have to wait and see.

One of my favorite lines: The line where Dumbledore says he and Grindelwald were more than brothers ... I see what you did there, J.K. ... I see what you did there. ;-)

You know what I want for this film series now? More Nicolas Flamel in future FB films. :-)

I also want more Dumbledore, but I suspect that wish will be easily granted as the series continues. And if we can have more Dumbledore with Grindelwald, I would like to order that as well.

I’m not sure of the name of the actor who played a young Newt Scamander in the Hogwarts flashback scenes, but wow! Talk about matching the perfect youngun’ to the right adult actor. That kid was completely believed as a young Newt. Hell, he’d be believable as a young Eddie Redmayne.

Notice how when Credence goes to Grindelwald in the cemetery, he puts his head on Grindelwald’s shoulder? He did it just like he did when Credence thought Grindelwald was Graves. It was a nice, but subtle callback to the connection these two formed -- even if temporary -- in the first film. And back then, Grindelwald was manipulating him just like he is manipulating him now, by filling a void disguised as love, affection and genuine concern. And Credence is still susceptible because he’s spent most of his life devoid of that.

Although I feel like he would have shown more hesitation at the idea of leaving Nagini behind. But maybe he figured since this is what they were working toward all along, she might understand with time.

I did see some people complain about the exposition scene where we learn of Leta’s secret, Yousef’s oath, and Credence’s connection to the Lestrange family. I thought they did a wonderful job getting the audience through that level of detail without making it boring. You hear a narration, but the visuals communicate the story perfectly. For such a tragic tale to be included in a film where some may think it’s all about love stories and magic wands, I appreciate the inclusion of how evil like Grindelwald’s exists in every generation. And its lasting effects helped create the situation everyone is struggling with in this current story. That is some expert-level storytelling.

Can I just say I love the relationship between Newt and Theseus? It’s not perfect, but it’s not mean-spirited. When Newt says, “This is probably the greatest moment of my life,” after Tina uses her wand to tie Theseus to a chair so they can escape, you can see that these two brothers have had a bit of a rivalry in the past, but you also see love there in the beginning when Theseus warns Newt that the ministry is watching him. And when Theseus is heartbroken after Leta tries to take down Grindelwald, that hug from Newt with the line, “I’ve chosen a side,” really says it all about their relationship. They’re brothers who love each other, even if at times, like many brothers, they don’t always like each other.

It was sad to see the poor Niffler get hurt because of the whole blue fire scene, but it’s also awesome that he snagged Grindelwald’s keepsake. One of the trailers said “No nifflers were harmed in the making of this movie.” Better not be. ;-)

OK. I think that’s all I have for now in terms of original reflections on the film. I’m sure more will come to me as I am exposed to other’s feedback. Like I said, I don’t read reviews. But I do hear different things being uttered by others on social media and in casual conversations. And to that, I say this: I’ve yet to hear one complaint about this film that I agree with. Not. One.

For example:

I don’t agree with the complaint that it had too much plot. (What the f*ck does that even mean?!)

I don’t agree that Queenie was acting out of character. (How is that possible if the person who created the character wrote her doing those things in the script? Not liking what a person does is not the same as acting out of character.)

I don’t agree that J.K. didn’t do a good job with the screenplay. A) She wrote the screenplay for the first one, and B) That’s utter bullsh*t because your desire to not think when you go into a cinema doesn’t have to translate into a script that caters to your desire to not think.

Johnny Depp did a phenomenal job, as expected. And no. He should absolutely not be replaced or recast.

And no. Leta Lestrange was not a disappointment. Quite the opposite.

I try to stay away from reviews, because mainly, I enjoy thinking for myself. So I honestly don’t know what all the critics are saying. All I keep hearing is that the movie is getting “mixed reviews.” So clearly some people like it. While others don’t.

I don’t know what others were looking for, but I do know that this film was exactly what the next act in this story should be. I look at Fantastic Beasts like a 5-act play. The Crimes of Grindelwald is the second act, and it did what a second act should do. The second act introduces a significant complication, develops the primary and secondary characters’ personalities further, and increases the action on all fronts in the plot. 

I think it’s unfortunate that some critics (and perhaps fans) thought that they were going to walk out of FB2 feeling the same way they did when they walked out of FB. And I can’t help but feel that some of the criticism being lobbed at J.K. has more to do with trying to take her down a peg and attempting to find a flaw in her skillset than it is about a genuine critique about what appears on the screen in Fantastic Beasts 2.

I don’t support mindless entertainment. I don’t even want my cartoons and action films to be mindless. It’s a sad state when we see critics demanding films cater to the lowest level of attention spans and depth. And I’m happy to see J.K. not give over to that idea.

As I said in the beginning, I enjoyed the film greatly -- enough to see it twice in 4 days. So you’ll likely see me praising the movie as much as the previous one until the next chapter (or Act 3) is ready for me to enjoy.