B+Directed by David Yates Starring Eddie Redmayne and Katherine Waterston Review by Phil Crone |  |
In a year bombarded with half-baked sequels and pedestrian rehashes, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” is a pleasant surprise. It’s no masterpiece by any means, but when it comes to creating characters I cared about and telling a self-contained story while still laying pipe for future installments in the new franchise, “Fantastic Beasts” gets the job done.
Unlike recent returns to franchises such as “Star Wars” or “Ghostbusters,” “FB” is recognizable but not overly familiar. Our new cast of characters bears little resemblance to the students of Hogwarts and the 1920’s world of magic in America feels like a unique culture from what we saw in England. Additionally, there aren’t any prophecies or eternal evils lurking in the shadows – the world here is more grounded, which sounds profoundly silly considering the weapon of choice here is a wand. It’s a world with far different dynamics and challenges than what we saw in England, and frankly, it’s a world I want to learn more about than I ever did in the original franchise. One of Harry Potter’s biggest issues was that its roots were childish, and as it aged, it was continually hampered by these silly cartoon characters it created. Fortunately, Rowling ditches this with her new saga, skipping the kids’ games and going straight to a more mature tone with world of complex characters, motivations, and sympathetic villains. Granted, no one is going to mistake “FB” for some sort of higher learning, but the full on “good vs. evil” narrative out the window here.
That said, building this world does come at the expense of the story. There’s a beginning, middle, and end here, but it feels perfunctory. “FB” is far more interested in developing its world and its characters, almost to the point where it forgets that there needs to be a villain and conflict here. A bit too much time is spent on hijinks without much of a narrative. It’s too bad, because there’s actually a good antagonist here that I wish I would have seen more developed.
The more fleshed out world yields an interesting group of characters that I, for now, believe I’ll find enjoyable over the course of another four films. “FB” spends a lot of time, maybe too much time, convincing the audience to like our new protagonist, Newt Scamander. I’ll admit I spent a lot of the first half of the movie trying to understand where things were going beyond Rowling begging us to please like this strange man. Rowling even throws in a line for Newt where he admits people find him annoying. That’s really not good when you give your main character that line and you’re silently nodding to yourself. Ultimately, I do think Rowling succeeds in swaying the audience to be on Newt’s side. This should be beneficial in future movies as Newt is far more interesting than Harry Potter ever was, but it drags down the early portions of this first installment.
Luckily, we don’t need as much prodding to like Newt’s cohorts. Our main heroine, Tina, isn’t exactly breaking the mold or bringing anything to the table, but she isn’t hurting anything. Rowling makes Tina easy to root for, but doesn’t make her terribly interesting so far. Her sister, Queenie, is a fun addition that will likely invoke at least fleeting shades of Luna for most Potter fans. Then there is the likable muggle (or no-mag, as they’re known in America) Jacob, Newt’s sidekick and the one that really steals the show. Jacob is impossible to not like, and Eddie Redmayne & Dan Fogler are great together, enhancing the likability of both of them. Jacob is a welcome addition to the Wizarding World, and given his lack of powers, it will be curious to see how Rowling utilizes him going forward.
Beyond all of this, surprisingly very little previous Potter knowledge is needed here. Anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock will know all they need to know here. I’m sure big Potter fans will pick up far more than I did (probably the most insider thing I figured out was what Hogwarts house Newt was a part of), but as someone who isn’t a Potter diehard, I was not lost in the least.
If you were skeptical that a return trip to the Wizarding World was unnecessary… well, you might still think that, but at least this isn’t a lazy cash grab. “FB” does spend a lot of time on world-building and characterization at the expense of its story, but I think it succeeds in giving us a good group of characters in an interesting world that we will want to return to again and again… and again… and again.
Grade: B+
That said, building this world does come at the expense of the story. There’s a beginning, middle, and end here, but it feels perfunctory. “FB” is far more interested in developing its world and its characters, almost to the point where it forgets that there needs to be a villain and conflict here. A bit too much time is spent on hijinks without much of a narrative. It’s too bad, because there’s actually a good antagonist here that I wish I would have seen more developed.
The more fleshed out world yields an interesting group of characters that I, for now, believe I’ll find enjoyable over the course of another four films. “FB” spends a lot of time, maybe too much time, convincing the audience to like our new protagonist, Newt Scamander. I’ll admit I spent a lot of the first half of the movie trying to understand where things were going beyond Rowling begging us to please like this strange man. Rowling even throws in a line for Newt where he admits people find him annoying. That’s really not good when you give your main character that line and you’re silently nodding to yourself. Ultimately, I do think Rowling succeeds in swaying the audience to be on Newt’s side. This should be beneficial in future movies as Newt is far more interesting than Harry Potter ever was, but it drags down the early portions of this first installment.
Luckily, we don’t need as much prodding to like Newt’s cohorts. Our main heroine, Tina, isn’t exactly breaking the mold or bringing anything to the table, but she isn’t hurting anything. Rowling makes Tina easy to root for, but doesn’t make her terribly interesting so far. Her sister, Queenie, is a fun addition that will likely invoke at least fleeting shades of Luna for most Potter fans. Then there is the likable muggle (or no-mag, as they’re known in America) Jacob, Newt’s sidekick and the one that really steals the show. Jacob is impossible to not like, and Eddie Redmayne & Dan Fogler are great together, enhancing the likability of both of them. Jacob is a welcome addition to the Wizarding World, and given his lack of powers, it will be curious to see how Rowling utilizes him going forward.
Beyond all of this, surprisingly very little previous Potter knowledge is needed here. Anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock will know all they need to know here. I’m sure big Potter fans will pick up far more than I did (probably the most insider thing I figured out was what Hogwarts house Newt was a part of), but as someone who isn’t a Potter diehard, I was not lost in the least.
If you were skeptical that a return trip to the Wizarding World was unnecessary… well, you might still think that, but at least this isn’t a lazy cash grab. “FB” does spend a lot of time on world-building and characterization at the expense of its story, but I think it succeeds in giving us a good group of characters in an interesting world that we will want to return to again and again… and again… and again.
Grade: B+
RSS Feed