C-c-c-combo breaker!

So this is the official end of my run of book reviews. I was doing so well and now I’ve lost it again. It’s been a super hectic week and I’ve not had much time to read. Plus, I’ve been trying to get ahead with my posts and stuff before I go on holiday. I think I can just about manage it but it does mean I’ve had to put aside reading to get things done. I’ll definitely make up for it whilst I’m away but it does mean my next two Wednesday posts will be kind of bullshit. Well, hopefully not bullshit but not what they could have been. I even started reading The Hate That U Give in the hope that I could finish it in time. I didn’t. But I hopefully will soon. I’m enjoying it much more than I expected but that’s mainly just due to my general mistrust of YA fiction. Something that I could go into now but I have bigger fish to fry. Bigger fish like Johnny Depp… again. After all, the second Fantastic Beasts trailer was released a matter of days ago. And, unsurprisingly, I had a lot of thoughts about it.

Now, I’m not going to do a massive deconstruction of the whole trailer because there are bound to be people out there who do it better and more thoroughly than I ever would. I’d love to go through it scene by scene but I’d inevitably get distracted/bored. I will say that, for the most part, I’m quite excited about the second film. Not as excited as I was about the first one but excited. The main four characters (Newt, Tina, Queenie and Jacob) still look awesome and there are some potentially great scenes. I’m still not entirely convinced by Jude Law but I think he could still be a good choice. There were times during the trailer where it felt as though we were just watching Jude Law instead of Dumbledore but, let’s be honest, you didn’t really see him. So, I’m not quite despairing about that piece of casting yet.

No, I’m still despairing about the casting of Johnny Depp. Something I’ve discussed briefly in the past in a classic JK Rowling rant. I’m not going to go too far into the whole “wife beating” argument here but it still makes me uncomfortable that a man who is continually being accused of being a violent bully and a hinderance on still allowed to continue in such a huge franchise. Now, obviously, nobody really knows what happened between Depp and Amber Heard but it’s not as is she is only one accusing him of physical and verbal abuse. There are plenty of stories about how troubled Depp is of late and it is worrying that Warner Bros is willing to give a pass to someone who is so openly connected with drug use. Especially after they fired such a lesser known actor for a similar violation before the filming of Deathly Hallows. If you’re a young and unknown actor then it’s a no-no but if you’re a Hollywood star then happily turn up on set drunk or high. Who gives a shit?

But, again, this wasn’t supposed to be a rant about this because, really, I don’t know anything about Depp’s personal life. There are enough reports that say he’s acting perfectly normally so I genuinely don’t know. No, this rant was supposed to be about his acting ability. It can’t be denied that Johnny Depp was once a great actor with a huge amount of talent. He was one of the great stars and I would always enjoy watching his films. Then something changed. Every year he has been getting more and more like his Pirates of the Caribbean character Captain Jack Sparrow. And, the worst thing, all of his characters were getting more and more like him too. You put Johnny Depp in a film and you’ll basically just get Johnny Depp playing himself. You really can’t tell the difference between most of his most recent characters. If you take away their wigs, then what really separates them?

If you look at the trailer and his appearance at Comic Con, you will see that Grindelwald is just Jack Sparrow with blond, spikey hair and a weird eye. He sounds the same and his body movements are the same. It’s awful. Gellert Grindelwald is described by Dumbledore as being a charismatic and possessing a merry disposition as a youngster. Obviously, he grew up to be something of a mass murderer but I imagine he was still able to convince people to follow his cause using that same charm. What we’ve seen from Johnny Depp in the previous film and everything since, there is no charm and no subtlety to the character of Gellert Grindelwald. It’s all just over-the-top and maniacal. I’m just disappointed.

Grindelwald was supposed to be the greatest threat to the wizarding world. The guy who very nearly caused the uprising of magical people against muggles. He was the kind of man who could convince Albus Dumbledore to join the cause. Johnny Depp’s version is the same guy. He’s just Johnny Depp. It has the potential to really ruin this whole series of films. We’re only one film (nearly two in) and Depp is already looking as though he’s in over his head. I’m just desperately hoping that the trailer isn’t really giving him enough of a chance but, if November comes and he’s just Johnny Depp again, I’m going to be posting so may rants that nobody will ever read. Mark my words.