Six points about fantastic beasts and where to find them
Six points about: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
So Fantastic Beasts (I’m not writing the full title every single time) is a sort-of prequel to the Harry Potter series. Fortunately, this movie doesn’t rely on everybody’s fandom of Harry Potter to make this an enjoyable movie. Just to clarify also, I’m not a huge Harry Potter fan. I liked the movies, but I’m not completely invested in the universe and I don’t know every single wizardry term that is used. This is a movie that I had some expectations with, and was I disappointed you ask? I don’t really know. Read on to find out why I am a bit unsure of Fantastic Beasts.
1. J.K Rowling’s writing was not a problem.
J.K Rowling’s debut screenplay was not much of a problem. It worked well for the most part, and she knows this universe better than anybody, so I dare you to find a better fit. Her action scenes didn’t always translate well on-screen, but otherwise it was all pretty solid. It won’t go winning any Oscars for screenplay, but it was a good story by Rowling, that for the most part, translated well on-screen. I have heard a few people say that Rowling hadn’t a clue how to write this movie, but I disagree strongly, and it was a good script.
2. The acting was solid, without being spectacular.
Nobody was noticeably bad in this movie. Everybody was good, and did their job fine. Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander was probably one of two stand-outs in the movie. Redmayne has a franchise on his shoulders, so he had to perform, and he did well. He should continue to grow into this character as the movies pass on. The other stand-out was Dan Fogler as Kowalski. He was the comic relief in this movie, and also offered up some emotion. Of all the characters, he was the one that I cared about most, and was most invested in. This should lead to good things for Fogler, so yeah, good job. Everybody else was Katherine Waterson was decent as Porpetina and has some good scenes, particularly towards the end, and Ezra Miller grew into his character well. Colin Farrell felt as if, at times, he was uninterested and wasn’t invested in the project, which is a shame as I really like Farrell.
3. The story sometimes side-tracked
This was particularly evident in the first act, and it felt as if they didn’t exactly know where they were going with the movie. They got over this little gripe, but the first act did take a while to get figured out where the movie was going. The whole Side-plot with Ezra Miller and his s characters scenario was uninteresting at times, and I wanted to get back into the adventure with Newt and his crew. In the end, his story had a decent pay-off, but the build up to this pay-off was slow and sometimes uninteresting. Otherwise, the story of Newt Scamander and his crew’s adventure was very fun and one of my favourite parts of the entire movie.
4. The premise of the story was very good
The whole idea of this movie is very clever and enjoyable. The whole concept of these beasts being unleashed in a normal city is very clever and this made for a fun adventure. If the following movies can continue this imagination and great story-telling then they should improve on each one. One negative that I do have to point out, is that the CGI beasts and creatures weren’t as amazing as I had expected. They were perfectly fine, but I certainly won’t remember them in years to come. The other visual effects were very good, despite my negative about the beasts.
5. There wasn’t too many major flaws/plot points.
There was nothing wrong at all with this movie. It just didn’t re-imagine the whole Harry Potter franchise, and does pale in comparison to some of the Harry Potter films. I enjoyed it but didn’t love it. It was a very enjoyable movie, with lots going for it. Fans of the Harry Potter franchise will particularly love this movie. I went with some real Potter fans, and they loved it. It is definitely worth the watch and you should go out and see this movie. Don’t expect it to be the best movie in history, but it’s pretty good.
6. It set up the sequels perfectly.
There is lots of talk about the sequels. David Yates has signed on to do all 5 movies, which there is positives and negatives to, but at least he knows the universe well. He has had a good start. Johnny Depp has been confirmed for the next movie, which is a conversation for another day.This at least this creates some intrigue for the next movie. Dumbeldore being confirmed for the sequel is a solid addition to the characters of the movie, and even got a name drop in this one. This will also create some intrigue, particularly for hard-core Potter fans.
Overall, this was a solid movie, without being spectacular and I will rate it 7.5/10.
Let me know what you guys thought of Fantastic Beasts and where to find them in the comments below.
Review Source: 6PointMovies.com
