Movie Review - "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" 11/18/2016

This is a movie review for "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", released November 18, 2016.




Trailer

Cast
Eddie Redmayne ... Newt
Colin Farrell ... Graves
Katherine Waterston ... Tina
Samantha Morton ... Mary Lou
Dan Fogler ... Kowalski




Plot
A wizard named Newt Scamander visits America because one of the beasts in his suitcase needs to be returned to Nevada (or something like that). However, he has to keep his magical skills hidden because No-Maj ["muggles"] are not supposed to know about the magic side of the wizarding world. A lady {Tina} who works for the American version of the Ministry of Magic catches Newt with his suitcase right after his suitcase (filled with many magical beasts) accidentally releases a few of the beasts. Newt accidentally had run into a No-Maj named Kowalski who, though he doesn't know anything about the wizarding world, ends up being fascinated by the beasts.

With Kowalski and Tina's help, Newt recaptures all the beasts that had escaped his suitcase but there is another larger (and invisible) creature on the loose. The American version of the Ministry of Magic try to blame this beast on Scamander as well, though he didn't have anything to do with it. It seems that there is more dark mystery around the wizarding world than just You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters. Can they figure out what kind of creature this invisible beast is and can they capture/destroy it before it destroys New York?



Rating Criteria
0/5 – No value whatsoever. Absolute waste of time.
1/5 – Barely worth any time.
2/5 – Pathetic but has a bit of something to hold the attention a little.
3/5 – Somewhat kept the attention but could definitely have used more.
4/5 – Good, but not awe-strikingly amazing. Could have maybe used a bit more to the movie.

5/5 – Go see it! Wonderful movie all around – characters, music, theme, story line, etc.

4.5/5 - I knock the rating down for the dark tones that it entails but, overall, it was a very good movie. Definitely a very worthy story for the wizarding world of J.K. Rowling. Kudos, Rowling! Well done.

I personally would love to see this again as well as add it to my movie library. The beasts were fantastic (and not just because of the title of the tale) and the special effects were wonderful! Highly recommended, especially for those that like Harry Potter.





05/13/17 Edit:
CinemaSins: Everything Wrong with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them