It’s hard to believe that Fantastic Beasts… is penned by the same author who bought Harry Potter, Hermione, Ron Weasel et al to the world. That was consummate storytelling.
J. K. Rowling in her first film script has forgotten that basic tenet – for the first hour or so, a new to 1920s New York Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) spends too much of his time inside his own suitcase full of those fantastical beasts struggling to find any significant story. Lolly coloured beasts abound – most of them scary looking but in reality pussycats.
Fantastic Beasts… ultimately boils down to the struggle between good and evil (where do we know that particular theme from?). But, unlike Potter, its full of characters who are mostly pale imitations of those you find in Hogwarts 70 years later. I certainly have no intention of spending another four movies with them – I’ll stick to reruns of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Nominated for 2 Oscars – won 1 for costume design (Colleen Atwood).
Rating: 44%
Director: David Yates (Harry Potter, The Legend of Tarzan)
Writer: J. K. Rowling
Main cast: Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything, Les Miserables), Colin Farrell (The Lobster, In Bruges), Katherine Waterston (Inherent Vice, Are You Joking?)
An Opinion or Two 