Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Yes, I have a soft spot for Rowling and her storytelling, and if I had to spontaneously choose which arbitrary fictional world I would want to spend the rest of my life in, it wouldn't be Middle Earth or Pandora, but a magical community where you can summon beer from the fridge without having to get up off the Quidditch couch. Fantastic Beasts is a satisfying intro to a new series overflowing with visual ideas developed to the smallest detail and, above all, a palpable of love and fascination with its own world and its unlimited laws, which it then successfully transfers to the dazzled viewer through the endearing character of Kovalski. Unfortunately, the story is not that good. Rowling pushes together multiple storylines that flow independently from each other and are connected by rather skeletal and thin bridges in the finale, with the sorcerer Grindelwald, the biggest planned star of the whole series, being an essentially insignificant and unnecessary figure for the development of the story. The darker Potter-esque feel is there, but Yates certainly does an excellent job keeping the film, with the right timing of humour and a nice pace, at least within the confines of a charming children's tale, which is also true of the actors. We'll see what the sequel brings, to which this episode is obviously preparing very much. (18/11/2016)

Fantastic Beasts and Why Go to See Them? Because they really are fantastic, cute, and I bet I won't be the only one who would like to have some of them at home. Another pretty good reason to see the movie is Eddie. To me, he's a supernatural character himself, so he fit in here quite incredibly. I don't want to compare him to Harry, but I have no choice because watching him just gave me that divine feeling. The butterflies in my stomach, the goosebumps, the tears of excitement... you know the drill. Rowling did not disappoint and I want to live in her head. :)) (09/12/2016)

If you expect to go see something that will expand the universe you’ve identified with your entire childhood and that you still swear by to this day, you tread lightly – even on the cinema carpet itself. You have no clue just how enchanted you’ll be in the upcoming minutes. You do not make a sound and suspect that it all ends well. But suspicion isn’t automatically a win. Sometimes it all goes bad and it can be a real mess-up. But not in Newt Scamander’s case, who has originally introduced himself to me with zero emotions and via a book that I’d gotten as a Christmas gift that winter, that I haven’t touched since and that’s been collecting dust somewhere. But film studios are a superpower and money needs to come from somewhere. And when one brand is squeezed dry, another one must replace it and so Newt came to the stage, starting with movie number one and ending with god-knows-what number, all according to the earnings and creative possibilities, of course. But personally, I gotta say that Newt and the other characters have all left a mark on me. During the movie, I realized that once again, I was in the world of witchcraft and wizardry, just a few years earlier than before, which isn’t bad at all. I was also happy to watch Katherine Waterston and Alison Sudol, both of whom I hadn’t even known before. The muggle Dan Fogler also didn’t disappoint me and so didn’t Johnny Depp at the very end. I feel like I know the direction it’s all going to go and honestly, I’m glad Johnny Depp will be a part of it. It’s almost as if my childhood was coming back… And with these kinds of movies, that’s never a bad feeling. (28/11/2016)

I simply can't write about this film other than as a huge pleasure. It gets everything right, and if I reach for the comparison that is directly offered, the magical duel between the fantastic Mlok Scamander and the bland Doctor Strange has a clear winner. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them does not need a boring introduction to introduce us to the main characters (although they are relatively unknown), because they are all experienced magic people and we get to know on the fly what they can or cannot do. They don't even need awkward jokes behind every scene, although there is no shortage of humor. Of course, they have the advantage of being set in a familiar world, but they don't settle for that and expand that world very nicely with new plots, characters and little things like "Muggles in England, non-wizards in the USA". It's all understandable, whether you know Harry Potter or not, and enhanced (how else?) by a fantastic cast led by the quirky Eddie Redmayne, the delightful Katherine Waterston and the brilliant romantic comic duo of Dan Fogler and Alison Sudol. (23/11/2016)

Nice surprise. The collaboration between David Yates and J.K. Rowling turned out great again. The film has only details in common with Harry Potter (the opening soundtrack, the orcs, the newspaper with the video, the names of the spells and the magical effect after the clash of wands), but in any case the film has a similar atmosphere of mini references as The Hobbit films. Eddie Redmayne is really a class act, at first I found his speech strange, yet he shows that he has his acting qualities, the two cute little sisters and the hilarious Dan Fogler were also great. I liked the whole concept of catching monsters in a trunk throughout New York, I wonder if there will be a different city in the next installment. The creatures are filmed brilliantly and are something to watch. Colin Farrell as the bad guy is also decent. Story 8/10, Atmosphere 9/10, Gore 0/10, Visuals 9/10, Action 8/10, Suspense 7/10, Humor 6/10. Entertainment 8/10, Scares 0/10. I'm glad to see the start of a decent series again, all the good ones are over. 85%. (19/11/2016)