You'll find none of the magic of the Harry Potter stories. Nor will you find a story.
Wizard Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmanye) returns with his magical suitcase and a mixed bag of storytelling in this new installment in the J.K. Rowling universe.
You’ll also meet Grindelwald (Johnny Depp),Albus (Jude Law), Leta (Zoe Kravitz), Theseus, Tina, Torquil, Arnold, Credence, Nagini, Queeni, Abernathy, Seraphina, Pottermore, Nifflers, Pickett, Titus, Finn, Poppy, Marlow and dozens of other characters and creatures stuffed into this movie that threads together too many characters and thoughts without a true draw for the casual film watcher.
I’m sure Potterfiles will enjoy the flashbacks, flash forwards, franchise fluff and surprise revelations, but there’s nothing here for other moviegoers. There are some surprises at the end that don’t really complete your film watching experience, they just set up the next installment.
It doesn’t help that this movie starts and ends with literal and figurative darkness. Even Depp’s role takes a grimmer turn as a flour-dusted, Trumpian leader who shows his 1920’s devoted followers (and the audience) how the inferior race of humans, er, muggles, will soon bring earth the Holocaust and atomic bombs. Oh what fun for the holidays!
Like too many movies of this decade, Fantastic Beasts aspires to be a popular franchise and marketable universe, never a full film. I prefer my serials on TV.
In a nutshell: Bloodless, but too bleak for kids. Adults will only enjoy this rambling film if they are Rowling fanatics.
Award potential: It’s a mess, but visually a stunning one. Potential nominations for Best Visual FX, Costume, Hair and Makeup and Production Design.
The Ten Buck Review: Not worth ten bucks.
No comments:
Post a Comment