The early reviews of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald are here, and they could have been written by a Slytherin. Apart from a few mildly positive notices, the first critics’ reactions are all mixed to very negative. They say it has too many characters and storylines. They compare it to The Phantom Menace. They call it a (wait for it) “Dumble-snore.” Ouch.

Here’s a sampling of the reviews so far; we’ll have our review of Fantastic Beasts 2 next week. The film opens in theaters a week from tomorrow.

Early Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of GrindelwalReviews:

Brian Truitt, USA Today

“A darker and bolder film that intertwines different eras of the Potter mythology and delivers a more relevant cinematic villain than that malevolent snake face.”

“The sequel has better and at times galvanizing special effects, a darker tone and a high-stakes battle between good and evil.

Johnny Oleksinski, New York Post:

Grindelwald gives us a proper villain and a purpose for this series.”

Olly Richards, Time Out:

“Has bags of charm and a warm familiarity, but too many characters and too much plot are weighing this beast down.”

Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times:

“One great big Dumble-snore.”

Robbie Collin, The Telegraph:

“The gravest case of prequel-itis since The Phantom Menace.”

Kate Erbland, Indiewire:

“Too many characters and too many storylines rob it of its most enduring charms.”

Karen Han, Polygon:

“The true crime of Grindelwald was wasting the audience’s time.”

Germain Lussier, io9:

“The latest film in J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World simply wasn’t up to par.”

Tasha Robinson, The Verge:

“A great deal of the film just involves characters looking for each other and meeting or parting in a rush between action set pieces.”

Gallery - The Best Harry Potter Characters:

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