Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them Review

Hi there!

I know, it's been a while but I'm back. And I'm back for a good reason.

Last Friday I've had the pleasure of seeing Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and I had to write about it.

Before I write another word I should give the warning: after this point tiny bits of spoilers might come flying towards your face so, if you haven't seen it, beware!

I have this thing about trailers: If I know that I'm definitely going to see the movie, I don't watch them. I feel like they take the magic out of it. They put every scene they deem good and when you see them in the movie it feels like second hand. I just simply prefer enjoying the movie while watching the movie, not while watching the bits and parts of it.

Anyway, the reason I'm telling this is to explain how expectationless (is that a word?) I was when I sat on that chair waiting for the movie to start. Because to be honest I solemnly believed that this was only an opportunity to extract more money from the money tree that is Harry Potter universe. (Well, it still probably is, but at least they did justice to it).

Because of my low expectation, I was waiting there to see nothing but a mediocre piece of film but I really, really did enjoy it.

To begin with, being a huge Harry Potter fan since, I don't know when I was 7, hearing that same old melody, that has been giving me goosebumps every since the first Harry Potter movie came out, at the beginning was just the perfect sign that this was going to be good.

The story revolves around Newt Scamander, the eccentric ex-Hufflepuff alumni who is travelling to collect different beast, study them, nurture them and at the end write a book about them to help people understand the them. (them, them, them, them... it started to sound funny).

If you didn't already know, the text book "Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them" is mentioned in the original Harry Potter series and was actually released as a hard-copy text book in the middle of the Harry Potter merchandise frenzy.

If you are familiar with my previous reviews you may know that I find Eddie Redmayne really charming. His portrayal of the character was very fitting for the general theme of the movie and it was exactly what you would expect an excitable Hufflepuffer who has been expelled most probably because of his love for these creatures.

In general I did enjoy his performance however, at some level his movements, exclamations, his choice of words reminded me awful a lot of Matt Smith's 11th Doctor. Just a thought.

On of the best things about the movie was Dan Fogler, who plays Jacob Kowalski, a no-maj (the American word for muggles) that finds himself in the middle of the adventure of the beast chasing in New York City.

Not only being the comic relief of the movie, he provides some very emotional moments that is what Harry Potter always stands for: funny, adventures and emotional. Therefore it was very sad when we had to say goodbye to him at the end of the movie. However, knowing that there are 4 more movies to come in our way in this series and considering the popularity of the character, I expect him to somehow come back to join the crew again in a future sequel.

When we look just a bit to the general casting, I found it quite successful, however I found Katherine Waterstone as Tina Goldstein, who, by the development of the story, is supposed to be the leading woman character a bit too... dull. She has a very significant role and she definitely brings it in the first about half an hour I guess. However as the movie moves forward Queenie, sister of Tina, starts to stand out better with her fascination with Kowalski and her ability to read minds and, Waterstone's character starts to lose her light becoming a character just simply follows Newt around with less than significant effect on the story.

The finale of the movie just show that the reason Tina Goldstein is there is that Newt needs a love interest. The whole purpose of a character shouldn't be that.

Overall, I was pretty satisfied with the movie. The little Easter Eggs such as various spells we are familiar with from the original series and the tiny little mention of Dumbledore's name, the Hufflepuff scarf... these were all little happy moments for me throughout the movie.

Maybe I was this impressed because I had so little expectations. You can't know without seeing it for yourself.

Thank you for reading my humble opinion!...