Fantastic Beasts : You Will Definitely Want More of Them
First ever review huh? I spent the last two days over which movie to start with. Finally, the old fandom rose up and presented me with
FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM
{spoilers ahead}
After all the disappointing Harry Potter movies, except for may be the Chamber of Secrets, there wasn’t much hope for this adaptation. I didn’t know what to expect when they announced that a movie was going to be made on FBAWTFT since the book is an encyclopaedia on the beasts. But , the TRAILER came out. Enter Newt Scamander :
a wizard going to America with his magically expanded suitcase, made safe for muggles. From that point, the wait was unbearable.
As a potterhead, I would be totally biased for the review. I apologise for that but the fandom has risen again. We finally meet Newt Scamandar, an eccentric magizoologist on his way to America. Portrayed by Eddie Redmayne. The moment he was on screen, I knew this movie had great potential.
The only thing that disappointed me was that, unlike the books, the wizard blended in with the crowd. That was one crucial element in the books: wizards were the weird dressers, they looked different between all the crowd of muggles. But, nevertheless, the story continued.
The next noticeable character was Jacob Kowalski :
the muggle(no-maj sounds totally foreign). Portrayed by Dan Fogler. The character is very likeable by the middle of the movie and at a point, every potterhead wishes that they could be that muggle who entered the wizarding world, but sadly he got to. His memory wipe was probably the saddest part of the movie. I wish that he should be brought back for the sequel.
Another thing I appreciate about the movie is that there is no clichéd romance between the leads as yet.If there was, then it would’ve spoiled the whole movie for me. Though it was refreshing to watch something bloom between Jacob and Queenie Goldstein.
Now, about Queenie, she is a leap for the movie as for the first time there is no confusion about Legilimens( for the people who only watch the movies) and the reader are happy that there is finally a character who is a legilimens(Mind reader)
As the movie proceeds, it is a complete joy to watch for the fans of the books as we see all the beasts that we knew only through our imagination.
It is very pleasing to watch that at that point in wizarding history, Newt was the only one who treated them like his own instead of destroying them. They also do help him throughout the movie. The CGI was done amazingly, especially for the Bowtruckle and Obscurus.
If you’re deep into the fandom then you must know that Ezra Miller tops the list for fancast of Sirius Black after the one scene in Perks Of Being A Wallflower.
Him being in a Wizarding World movie is like a Christmas gift for all the fans out there. Destroying him was another low in the movie for me. But, the plot twist was shocking when Credence(Ezra) turns out to be the one hosting the obscurus, instead of Modesty.
Lastly, I am really excited about how Grindelwald’s character is going to turn out. The last minute reveal that Johnny Depp is playing Grindelwald was a sweet surprise.
We finally got to see the most scariest dark wizard of all time in this movie. I say of all time because he was nothing like Voldemort, who I didn’t find that intimidating after the deathly hallows because all he was a coward. Grindelwald shows promise for the future movies so I am really excited about that and hoping that the actor who will be playing Dumbledore would be as good.
Also , in this movie we got to see America’s wizarding world. The curiosity was always there so this movie kind of had it all for the hungry fan and also had the element of interest for the other viewers with the decent cast.
So the review is supposed to have a score, so I would say it is a 8.5 / 10