Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Evie Totty: “It was ok.”

Placeholder Review

− December 30, 2016 • more by Evie • log in or create an account to reply

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Erik Bates: “It ruled.”

As a stand-alone film, this one was great.

As part of the Harry Potter series, it didn't live up to the whimsy and fantasy of its predecessors. But that isn't to say it's a bad movie. Far from it. If this is the beginning of a new series, it's definitely off to a good start.

− January 1, 2017 • more by Erik • log in or create an account to reply

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Scott Hardie: “It ruled.”

I skipped this at the time due to Harry Potter fatigue, but I was just convinced to see it by a flattering video that praises its unconventional hero Newt Scamander, who is compassionate, non-violent, socially awkward, a bit melancholy, and possibly on the autism spectrum. He's definitely the most remarkable thing about the film, and the trust placed in him to carry a franchise is laudable.

After eight Harry Potter movies (and countless more in other franchises) where teenage heroes learn the same teenage life lessons along with their spells, it's refreshing to spend a couple of hours in a grown-up Wizarding World populated by adults who have their lives together and have already mastered magic. There is still learning and growth here, but Scamander doesn't do it; in another bucking of convention, it's the sidekick Jacob who changes the most and who makes a critical decision in the end.

I also appreciate the film's social commentary, portraying Americans as bigoted, uncharitable, paranoid, religiously backwards, led by incompetent officials, manipulated by media-savvy plutocrats, and guarded by trigger-happy (or in this case wand-happy) police.

The film tells a satisfyingly complete story and could be watched in a vacuum, but it does waste valuable time on world-building and background information in service of the larger Wizarding World that has nothing to do with the story at hand. And its biggest problem is its over-reliance on CGI to create so much of what's on the screen, from the vast and mostly empty New York streets to a maelstrom of black smoke that appears multiple times. In a few decades, this film should look very dated, not because CGI can be done with more pixel definition in the future, but because the aesthetic of generic-looking wall-of-wall CGI will (hopefully) have come to be rejected by later artists. The one all-CGI sequence that works is when the true contents of Scamander's suitcase are revealed, which is delightful and specific.

Also, J.K. Rowling has always been self-indulgent, but she outdoes herself with the endless fantastical names for the creatures here. She is 100% the Australian shopkeeper from The Simpsons.

− April 30, 2023 • more by Scott • log in or create an account to reply