Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Yates, 2016) — Spoiler Filled Reviews Thread
 

**SPOILERS WITHIN**

Please continue pre-release discussion here.

Movie:
"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" (Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Gemma Chan, Ezra Miller, Colin Farrell, Johnny Depp, Katherine Waterston, Ron Perlman, Samantha Morton)

Release Date:
11/18/16

Rating:
PG-13 (for some fantasy action violence throughout.)

Running Time:
133m. (2h. 13m.)

Budget:
$225 million (estimated)

IMDb Synopsis:


IMDb Info and Rating:
0.0 (0 votes as of 11/13/16)

Rotten Tomatoes:
Fresh:24 Rotten:00 (100% as of 11/13/16)

Metacritic:
73 metascore ('Generally favorable reviews' as of 11/13/16)

Trailer:


Poster Art:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...astsposter.jpg

Re: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Yates, 2016)—The Spoiler Filled Reviews
 

A short video about the 3D conversation work done on the film. Also, it's been confirmed as an exclusive for IMAX 3D showings that they'll be using the aspect ratio frame break technique. If you watched the recent Ghostbusters movie in IMAX 3D then you know exactly what this means.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lSXq0UNARE4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Re: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Yates, 2016)—The Spoiler Filled Reviews
 

bump for release tonight.

Re: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Yates, 2016)—The Spoiler Filled Reviews
 

Anyone see this last night?

I'm not sure how I feel about it. It really didn't do too much for me.

This review line seems kind of accurate to me:
"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them turns out to be a hyperbolic name for a pretty so-so movie -- one with entertaining passages, but which mostly feels like a big-budget prequel to the better, more cohesive film that's yet to come."

Re: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Yates, 2016)—The Spoiler Filled Reviews
 

So are the five planned "Fantastic Beasts" movies going to tell the story of Grinfelwald?

Seems sort of strange that Grindelwald's story would be told through Newt Scamander. Why not just make a series of Grindelwald movies?

Re: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Yates, 2016)—The Spoiler Filled Reviews
 

What The Flick review: all three thought it was so-so.

Re: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Yates, 2016)—The Spoiler Filled Reviews
 

I'm excited for this because JK wrote the screenplay but I really don't like Yates ever since he butchered DH2.

Re: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Yates, 2016)—The Spoiler Filled Reviews
 

I see I'm not the only one who just reads the highlighted blurbs on Rotten Tomatoes.;)

I dug it. Was it supposed to be a surprise when Colin Farrell turned into Johnny Depp? I knew nothing about it, but when I got home I read that Depp was signed on for the franchise. Was that a leak? or was the Depp thing common knowledge?

Re: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Yates, 2016)—The Spoiler Filled Reviews
 

I thought it was OK ... it was interesting to see the US side of the wizarding world but I thought that the two different stories they were trying to mesh together didn't go too well. I haven't flipped through my copy of Magical Creatures to see if the new ones mentioned were in that work but it always seems somewhat lazy that a creature would have a needed magical property to move the plot forward.

Re: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Yates, 2016)—The Spoiler Filled Reviews
 

It was known he'd have a cameo and who he'd be playing. It wasn't known how.

Re: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Yates, 2016)—The Spoiler Filled Reviews
 

From my movie review page Orbi-Wan Goes to The Movies

Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them - PG-13 - A welcome expansion to the Potter-Verse that tries harder than it really has to.

My first introduction to the Harry Potter universe was in 2001, with the film version of “The Sorcerer’s Stone”. Like most muggles, I was enchanted by this new cinematic world. I remember, as we were coming out the theater, my wife exclaiming, “That was like watching The Wizard of Oz for the first time!” I immediately delved into the books, and read each of the following editions as they were released. And of course, all of the film versions were required viewing.

Baked into the original set of books and movies was a textbook used by Harry, Hermione, and Ron called “Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them,” by a gentleman named Newt Scamander. J. K. Rowlings has not only blessed the film version of the text, but has written the screenplay for the first of FIVE films following the adventures of Mr. Scamander as he pursues the titled fantastic beasts.

This first film is at once familiar and new, as Newt (Eddie Redmayne) arrives in 1926 New York City on a mission which is revealed during the course of the movie. The fun of “Fantastic Beasts” begins as some of the creatures escape from the old suitcase that never leaves his side. Newt’s pursuit of one of the wily animals, a platypus-type creature that can’t resist gold and jewels, teams him with a “No-Maj” or American muggle named Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler) who becomes the audience’s avatar as he navigates the world of wizarding in the United States.

Like the United Kingdom, America has its own Congress of Magic, with a president and everything. However, politics are a bit different in the USA, and recent magical occurrences threaten to expose the magical citizenry to the public at large. The Congress is already on edge due to the threat of a rogue wizard named Grindelwald (who’s wreaking havoc on both continents), and having to deal with groups like the Second Salem, which is working to “out” the “witches” that live among us.

Newt’s mission and these magical disturbances collide as he is trailed by, and eventually joins forces with, Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston), a detective of sort for the Congress of Magic. His escaped creatures are being blamed for damage around New York, but it soon becomes evident that something more sinister is at play.

That description barely touches the surface of what’s going on in “Fantastic Beasts”. There’s a lot happening during the film, not just in the forefront, but in the background, as several plots unfold, some resolved and many not as the ground rules and players are being introduced for the five -part series. At one point, I felt I needed a scorecard to keep up with some things, but by the end of the film, I felt I knew everything I needed to be ready for part two.

There is so much built into the details, from the way house elves are more respected in the US, to the ark that is Newt’s suit case, and the incredible animals within. Don’t even get me started about the speak-easy run by a mobster-goblin. I feel like I have to watch this film multiple times to catch everything I may have missed!

There is humor throughout, including the attempts to capture the escaped beasts; the beginnings of a sweet romance between No-Maj Kowalski and Goldstein’s sister, who has her own special abilities; and a bit of darkness surrounding the Second Salems, a magical enforcer named Graves (Colin Farrell), and how they figure into the overall scheme of things.

Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them is very entertaining, even if it feels a little overstuffed. Some things could have been introduced in later films, but we’ll see how they play out as the series progresses. The visual effects are, for the most part, magical. I really enjoyed Fantastic Beasts a lot, and am giving it 4 out of 5 lightsabers.

NOTES FOR PARENTS: Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them is rated PG-13 for some fantasy action violence. An encounter between Kowalski and a couple of beasts lead to him being bitten (comically, and in service of the plot), and his flat temporarily destroyed. The plot with the Second Salems is a bit dark and has a couple of scenes that can be disturbing for children, including an implied beating with a belt. The politics and many of the plot details will go completely over the head of younger viewers. The true nature of the antagonist and the scenes of the full power of the “bad guy” are on par with the scariest parts of the later Harry Potter films.

Re: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Yates, 2016)—The Spoiler Filled Reviews
 

That video echoed a lot of how I felt about this film.

As fun as it was to return to the Potterverse, I didn't think the script was particularly good nor was it directed well.

Dan Fogler's character Jacob stole the show for me. I kept looking forward to scenes he was in.

Everything around him? Not so much. I didn't care about any of the other characters and the pacing felt so utterly strange throughout the entire run time (which felt even longer than 2+ hours). I also had a problem with the sheer amount of subplots in this film. The film never got into a groove for me because either it would shift to another subplot instantly or it would be another scene of the cast chasing things.

The scene where Scamander & Tina are caught, interrogated and taken to be executed was great but the film never really lets itself bathe in those moments, frantically flying subplot to subplot.

Re: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Yates, 2016)—The Spoiler Filled Reviews
 

Didnt care for it much, redmayne mumbled his way thru, kevin james was good tho

Re: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Yates, 2016)—The Spoiler Filled Reviews
 

Kevin James? Did he have a cameo that I missed?

Re: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Yates, 2016)—The Spoiler Filled Reviews
 

Nah, this due just looked like him


https://www.google.com/search?q=fant...weAEQS0ONdAAAA

Re: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Yates, 2016)—The Spoiler Filled Reviews
 

Saw this yesterday. It was entertaining, but it still felt like an easy cash-in movie. Redmayne continues to show that he is a great actor who seems to have Daniel Day Lewis ability in terms of disappearing into roles. I also feel the movie benefited from not having too many "name" actors so to say as you saw the characters and not the stars. I really found Jacob and Queenie's story arc engaging as opposed to superfluous. However, this strength came to a screeching halt when Depp was revealed. That was really distracting and just didn't work IMO. Four more movies, seriously??

Still, worthwhile and entertaining, though I would be sketchy about a 3D viewing. I saw it in 2D and would have found the scenes in the dark unbearable through dark tinged glasses.

Re: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Yates, 2016)—The Spoiler Filled Reviews
 

I also felt the film was middle of the road. Too much chasing of magical creatures, and the characters were a bit thin.

I did like some of the more serious themes which few people seem to notice. The effects of child abuse, miscegenation laws (laws against marriage with No-Mags, similar to laws against interracial marriage), the death penalty. I hope these are explored more in future movies.

The movie also raises an interesting question. If abuse and suppression of a child's magic leads to the creation of an obscurus and death by age ten, how did Harry Potter survive the abuse, suppression and captivity imposed by the Dursely's?

Re: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Yates, 2016)—The Spoiler Filled Reviews
 

He didn't know that there was magic to suppress?

Re: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Yates, 2016)—The Spoiler Filled Reviews
 

I thought the first half was uneven and poorly paced, but I started really enjoying it by the second half... I think the turnaround points for me were the revelation of the beast world in the briefcase and the near death encounters in the US Ministry (or whatever it was). My main issue with the film is that it felt like they wanted to tell two distinct tonally disparate stories (Newt's whimsical beast chasing and the more serious US Magic Department/Grindelwald/Salemites story) but sort of mashed them up in a way that didn't quite work as a cohesive unit -- it sort of felt like they mashed up Jumanji and The Dark Knight. I still enjoyed their individual merits, but I think I would have enjoyed either story arc more as its own thing.

Despite all of this, I enjoyed the film and imagine they will work out some of these issues by the next film.

Re: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Yates, 2016)—The Spoiler Filled Reviews
 

This was my main issue as well. The darker, more lore driven parts of the story were way more interesting than Newt's hunt for his creatures.

Re: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Yates, 2016)—The Spoiler Filled Reviews
 

Part of this was like the Goosebumps movie/Ghostbusters, but it really seemed unfocused. Glad that the Harry Potter world is back...but it would be nice to have other directors involved, rather than Yates for the next...four.

Re: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Yates, 2016)—The Spoiler Filled Reviews
 

I quite enjoyed it even if not all the parts seemed to come together ultimately. The too-many-subplots argument is very valid. While I could still follow along and got most of what was going on, the movie switched gears so much that it was hard to care what was going on at times. Luckily the main cast was featured enough for my liking. Redmayne played the lead convincingly, and though he came off as weird and shy, it made sense and was quite different than our usual protagonists, especially when comparing this to the Potter series. And I loved the characters of Jacob and Tina's sister, they were delight any time they were on screen. Where this series can go, I'm not sure. I will surely own this on UHD disc (think it's already on preorder, this definitely will look great on the format).

Re: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Yates, 2016)—The Spoiler Filled Reviews
 

I saw it on Saturday (went to see either Arrival or Doctor Strange but both were sold out, and this was a later showing) and thought it was decent. I agree that I was less interested in the various creatures than in the darker plotline.

I hadn't read anything on it beforehand other than it was a Potter prequel, so I was surprised that the younger sister was played by Alison Sudol, who's a local musician who performs (or used to perform) under the name of A Fine Frenzy.

Re: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Yates, 2016)—The Spoiler Filled Reviews
 

Sudhol was enchanting. She made a lot from this role.

Intriguing movie, better than the sum of its parts in a way, but also those parts don't add up to a very coherent movie, especially tonally. Still I look forward to next installment.

Re: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Yates, 2016)—The Spoiler Filled Reviews
 

Saw this last night. I mostly enjoyed it for what it was, but I agree with most that it was a little hard to follow at times. Doesn't help that it was a late night showing as well.

:up: She's awesome. I saw her open for Rufus Wainwright the first time I went to Seattle. Actually, I should say, I caught the last one or two songs of her set. I believe she closed with Rangers, a beautiful song. But my wife and I were just floored by that performance. Rufus was phenomenal, too. Sean Lennon was forgettable. :)

Anyway, I thought she was really great in this film. I just hope she (eventually) keeps making music, too.