I really wanted to like this movie. The idea sounded really cool to me. As I mentioned Yates directed some of my favourites in the franchise, and with J.K Rowling on board as the screenwriter I felt like we were in safe hands. There is not one fundamental problem with Fantastic Beasts - in fact there are lots of positive things about it. The CGI and character design were outstanding for the most part, the 1920's New York setting was gritty, if slightly bland, and a few of the performances really shone through. Unfortunately the problems are also many-fold. The most glaring of all is the script. As much as I admire Rowling, the screenplay for this film kind of has me wishing she'd stick to writing novels. It's not that it's terrible, it's just that it's mediocre, and in the Potter universe that just isn't going to cut it. Many scenes just felt inconsequential on both a thematic and narrative level, with dialogue that comes off as either awkward, sentimental or dull. There were of course several exceptions - the scene in the bar being my favourite for providing both comedy and tension in equal measure. The script never really drew me in like it always did in the Potter films, especially when it heads in a darker direction that was such a heavy feature of the originals.
The performances were also a mixed bag. Eddie Redmayne does his best as Newt Scamander, but personally I did not like his performance. Like in The Theory of Everything, I couldn't help but cringe at some of his acting, which often looked forced and unnatural. Again it's not a terrible performance, but when you're trying to live up to Potter it's very hard to make an impression. I didn't care for Katherine Waterston's portrayal of Tina Goldstein either. Not bad but too reliant on facial expressions and clichéd dialogue. The standout if there is one has to go to Dan Fogler as 'no-maj' Jacob Kowalski, a loveable New Yorker wannabe baker who acts as both the audience exposition character and the comic relief. He was genuinely funny and likeable, and gave the film the sense of humour it so desperately needed more of. His interaction with the other characters was great, but most of all with the beasts themselves, who he would always end up at the mercy of.
Speaking of beasts, they were undoubtedly the saving grace of this movie. In fact I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if more focus had been put on the relationship between Scamander and this multitude of intricately designed creatures that he was protecting and caring for. Instead the film seemed undecided on what tone it was aiming for, on the one hand wanting to capture the awe and magic of Newt and his beasts, whilst also trying desperately hard to be as dark as the final few Potter films, to which it falls embarrassingly short. The story of Credence and his upbringing was a cool idea, but I think they saved it for a later movie, where we would have had more time to understand his character. The CGI mess in the final act, with Credence flying around as an Obscurus tearing up the streets of New York, just shouldn't have made the final cut. The subtly and ambiguity of evil was utilised so perfectly in the Potter films because of the level of nuance in the characters and the growing dread that builds through every successive movie. It's a real shame because I thought Ezra Miller could have made Credence a really fascinating character, he just wasn't given enough to work with.
One thing I admired about Fantastic Beasts is how little it relied on fan service. Apart from the passing mention of Albus Dumbledore, there was very little sucking up to Potter's legacy. Having said that, and with the knowledge that they are making 5(!) more of these things, I have to question whether the world will be interesting enough to stretch it out that much. Many will say that this was a set up film for the ones to come, but I am not going to give it a pass for that. The first two Harry Potter's had me desperate to see how they were going to approach the rest of the films, and I just didn't get that with Fantastic Beasts. Nonetheless, it was a bold move to make a film in such a beloved world without doing what so many other franchises have done *cough Star Wars cough* and simply copy the formula of previous successes, so it does get some praise for that.
Overall, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was just not what I wanted it to be. Ultimately it lacked a set of characters that I wanted to invest in and had a script that felt like it was trying to do too much. The result was a badly paced and tonally inconsistent film, with the odd scene here and there that really made me remember why I fell in love with the Potter universe in the first place. If they'd focussed mainly on showcasing the beasts and further developed Newt's character, my review might have been entirely different. Nevertheless I still think this is a fun family movie and it will certainly appeal to some much more than it did to me. My hopes are simply that both Yates and Rowling will take this franchise somewhere more engaging in the future. We will see!
Acting: 45
Narrative: 45
Visuals: 65
Music: 60
Overall: 54/100
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