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. (11/18/2016)

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. (11/28/2016)

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. (11/23/2016)

For me, this film perfectly fits the term "producer's film." There’s craft certainty, but also inner nihilism. The logical nonsense (why doesn't Scamander use his wand right away in the hunt and instead lets everything go to the extremes?) hidden under Yates' confident direction will lull you into a sense that everything is fine. When you want to recapitulate the plot after the end, you can’t. (11/21/2016)

Five years have passed since the last Harry Potter, so it was nice to dive back into a world full of magic, spells and many fantastic creatures after a long time. I was expecting something a little different from the film, but I can't say I was disappointed, rather, I'm excited to see what the sequels will look like. The first half was weaker, as it was basically just a succession of animals and characters with no plot, but in the second half everything started to pick up some magical momentum and towards the end we got two decent plot twists. Of the creatures, the mole-robber won me over the most, on the other hand, I could have done without the line with the somewhat disappointing rhinoceros. On the other hand, my favourite Ezra Miller was thankfully given enough space, so I was still satisfied. All in all, a nice two hours in the cinema, which was worth waiting for after all. (11/28/2016)