Since Fantastic Beasts was released just a few days ago (Blu-Ray, DVD, etc.) and many people we know still haven’t seen it, we wanted to say a few words to help you decide whether you want to see it or not. The general idea is that, if you’re a Potter fan… like a TRUE fan of the HP Universe, you will enjoy this movie. You might not enjoy it as much as you wanted to, but it definitely adds to the cinematic universe that they created. It doesn’t (really) work against it in any significant way, so it does feel like Rogue One’s relationship to Star Wars, in that way.
Now, if you haven’t ever watched any of Screen Junkies Honest Trailers, and you appreciate some satirical comedy, we highly recommend you check out their YouTube page. They had the same idea about Fantastic Beasts this week, so they just released their own Honest Trailer, and while their job is to be hard on movies, we do think that this film deserves some credit. It does, after all, have a 73% on the Tomato Meter with an 81% from audience, as well as a 7.5/10 on IMDB.
The way that this film differentiates from Rogue One is that it is not intended to be a one-shot, by that we mean, they’re going to make sequels. While only half of us really enjoyed the Hobbit trilogy (the other compared it to LotR too much!) we both agreed that they didn’t need to make three movies. They added new plot points and additional story lines to create a trilogy that could generate a lot more revenue. That is even more so the case here because they have even less source material to use.
We have the Fantastic Beasts textbook, which is far smaller than a typical text that you remember from your days in school. It was originally packaged with Quidditch through the Ages as more of a novelty item for Potter fans. It doesn’t have a story, but they managed to take Newt and turn him into a character, with a supporting cast in New York, that will now carry a new part of the franchise. How does he do, though?
Well. Eddie Redmayne is talented and fits this role really well. He’s quirky and that compliments the generally dark and dull tone of this film. It has bursts of magic that’s far from dark with amazing comic relief from his new right-hand man, who happens to be the only muggle main-character. While it lacks the overall charm of the first HP movie (no beautiful Christmas at Hogwarts scenes here), it does create an intriguing blend of what you’d see in the first few books and last few books, or movies if you prefer them.
Overall, again, a Harry Potter fan must see Fantastic Beasts because it only adds to the universe. As a movie, it’s still very fun and well-made, but it could be a little boring and dull if you can’t relate to the universe they’re living in. I could easily see a non-HP fan missing the magic on this one, since they clearly don’t pack it with action as they’re saving a lot for the next few movies. I’m not sure how they’ll turn a book you can read in twenty minutes into a trilogy (or so), but they have the universe, the villain, the hero, and most importantly… magic on their side. And as always, stay hungry and fit!
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