Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them (2016)

If no man ever pushes any woman’s hair behind her ear in a movie ever again, it will still have happened too much in the cinematic canon. That, of course, is hardly the main point of the newest movie in the Harry Potter universe, but it’s a very specific kind of nonsense that shouldn’t also exist in fantasy universes. Abolish it. Outlaw it. Off topic!

I never thought I would have such low expectations or minimal enthusiasm for a movie related to Harry Potter, having been a part of the original wave of enthusiasts and Big Ol’ Nerds. A lot of factors contributed to that: I have to admit to being wary of any way supporting the continuing of Johnny Depp’s acting career, for one. Indeed, when it came to his cameo, it did feel like a moment that was supposed to result in “hey, it’s that guy!” but instead resulted in “oh god, it’s…that guy”. Then there’s my growing distance from the franchise and my disillusionment with the heavy handedness of canon overruling it - not to diss the mind of JK Rowling, but come on, there’s a point where you have to hand it to Barthes and death-of-the-author that shit. I feel like this movie faced the danger of doing for me what people were complaining about with the new Ghostbusters movie, you know? Taking the magic out of it, per se. Add to that the embarrassment of age and growing awareness of the less-than-great things about the media you used to adore...it wasn't a good recipe, going in.

Thankfully, I was fairly happy with Fantastic Beasts. In its need to establish a new brand of magical world, I thought it did well, if always feeling just a little superficial. I think people expected some kind of intensity of commentary, the kind that took a long time to build, and I appreciated attempts to shoehorn in ideas of segregation (continuing the whole muggle/wizard allegory in the originals), but they felt a little disjointed and when contrasted with a movie whose casting seemed a bit bland and overly placating. At the same time, so much of it hinged on such great conveniences that I couldn’t help feeling a bit cheaped out, while others had me wanting more for great potential. Elements felt rushed in order to create a piece that would convince the world that Harry Potter doesn’t need the boy who lived to warrant a place in theatres.

My main problem with the movie is a little too spoilery, and has to do mostly with resolution of Ezra Miller’s plotline, which I felt was mishandled. I'm not so keen on quick resolutions to plots that involve really deep rooted, complex lines of abuse and mental illness. I also wish there was some more texture to the Newt character, who felt far too smooth around the edges and didn’t work for me as a protagonist. As a result, I - and I suspect many other viewers - spent the whole movie latching onto secondary characters, and when they weren’t involved, the movie felt unfocused (which meant, for me, in a lot of the climactic parts). I also found the visual effects impressive, but a lot of the transitions bordered on genuinely nauseating for me at times, so if you’re a fellow migraine sufferer, perhaps be careful?

Rating: 5.5/10 - Fantastic Beasts was...fine. It contributed to the continued media existence of Johnny Depp, always a negative. Even though I overall had an okay time watching it, I had a lot of issues with the movie, and I know I’m harsher on it because I felt it was dealing on a lot of favourable nostalgia and hence had a lot of good grace to work with that it didn't live up to.  I don't think it should be rewarded by virtue of being a part of the greater Harry Potter universe, nor dismissed purely for that: I think it was a perfectly fine movie, but it didn't knock my socks off and I'm not particularly excited for future installments.