Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

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%. (11/19/2016)

Five years is an incredibly long time, so when the first notes of the familiar soundtrack started playing, genuine goosebumps appeared and didn't leave me until the closing credits. My beloved JK Rowling is constantly adding surprises, new ideas, and genuine magic to the script every few seconds. What's more, Eddie Redmayne perfectly fits a role for the first time in his career, a role tailor-made for his quirks and shyness, which stands out even more in contrast with the chilling (and as expected, perfect) Colin Farrell. But what I enjoy the most is that the heroes are adults who are skilled in magic, so all the chases are incredibly dynamic. Combined with the touching fairytale romance, it's not just a surprise, because I was expecting a fantastic spectacle, but I didn't expect the Fantastic Beasts to play the most touching personal notes for me. (11/22/2016)

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)

In general, I appreciate the excessive patience of Potter fans who wait until you know who turns into you know who, but I don't suffer from such a lack of imagination that I can't imagine thousands of better ways to waste 134 minutes of my life. Yes, the film is as long and self-serving as the previous sentence. And it has a nice soundtrack. Your Universal Platypus. (11/16/2016)