Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Published 2017-03-18
Film info
- Title Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
- Director David Yates
- Year 2016
- Run time 2hr 13m
- Genres Fantasy, Adventure, Action
- Tagline From J. K. Rowling's Wizarding World
- Cast Eddie Redmayne, Colin Farrell
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opens in 1926 as Newt Scamander has just completed a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures. Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident... were it not for a No-Maj (American for Muggle) named Jacob, a misplaced magical case, and the escape of some of Newt’s fantastic beasts, which could spell trouble for both the wizarding and No-Maj worlds.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 0:21 | Oh wow, the title looks just like HP. Didn’t realise it was exactly the same. |
| 3:15 | I’d like a suitcase like that, top secret muggle switch. |
| 4:04 | “A dark wind with eyes.” Smoke monster, for sure. |
| 8:10 | Dunno about you, but I wouldn’t pocket a weird egg that a stranger left behind. |
| 12:11 | The pilfering pest is ridiculously cute. |
| 19:02 | Good “when will they switch suitcases” drama there. |
| 22:25 | “A big, huge, hippopota…gas.” |
| 29:32 | Is it weird to desperately want to be a wizard only so the washing will do itself? |
| 34:10 | Coffee is the best New York word. |
| 40:44 | They do move in herds. |
| 42:16 | Oh, I don’t know, bird snakes seem entirely unnecessary. |
| 49:37 | I really think we need an entire film about the niffler. |
| 52:50 | “My philosophy is, worrying means you suffer twice.” |
| 1:02:05 | Ooh, Scamander has a brother? |
| 1:06:48 | Hogwarts reference. |
| 1:07:58 | DUMBLEDORE REFERENCE. |
| 1:10:31 | That’s so “I’ve got a gun in my room”. Why not just Avada Kedavra them? |
| 1:13:22 | Best yo-yo ever. |
| 1:22:12 | Not Pickett. |
| 1:25:44 | “Try very hard not to be predictable.” |
| 1:29:23 | Do they know teapots have two holes? |
| 1:46:29 | Bit staggered by the graphics here, if I’m honest. |
| 2:00:35 | Oof, Jacob. |
| 2:03:33 | Bread nifflers! |
Thoughts
Hooray! This was so worth the wait.
It felt a bit odd watching a Harry Potter universe film that I wasn't already totally versed in, but it was easy to get totally immersed in the world again. Eddie Redmayne was brilliant, of course, but I thought the rest of the cast were up to the challenge. And it was believable as being in the 1920s, great graphics, wonderful costumes, and perfect dialogue.
The CGI was a bit of an issue for Mr C, pointing out that just like in the new Ghostbusters, there are ten minutes in the middle of the film where all the acting disappears and you just get to watch a load of graphics destroying a city. Good for what it is, but not really adding anything to the script. Slo-mo niffler, that's more the kind of CGI that is adding to your story.
But nevertheless, it was a brilliant film, and when it ended we were both happy to know there are four more in the pipeline.
Rating: 5 / 5
