"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" film review: Cheap American tea party

Enough is enough when film franchises are meant to end. This is not a separate story from the original but rather a fragment of its vast yet unknown history. Nonetheless, it is a disappointment from start to finish.

Seasoned actor Eddie Redmayne in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

It is hard to write a negative critic about a franchise that everyone has learned to love since childhood, but this film has not grown out of the confines of its original audience.

"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" is directed by David Yates and is J.K. Rowling's screenplay debut. She confirmed that it will be succeeded by four more films and Potter historians analyzed that will eventually lead to the historic battle between Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald. It tells the story of Newton Artemis Fido Scamander and his magical briefcase full of otherworldly creatures, along with a few other subplots.

This expansion of Rowling's universe is what fans would have wanted yet it failed to focus on a particular problem and therefore was nothing but a film that did not explore more of the crises that are happening in the story.

All depth that could have been visualized was wasted in exchange for cheap adventure and dialogue that did not contribute much to the cause.

Instead of producing a climactic film to better cradle this piece of history beyond Hogwarts and England, the film was a series of minigames and subpar writing due to how there were several characters present yet their roles were not given much value. They existed for the purpose of the main character's endeavors, and that is not a good thing in the artistic and creative community. Though supporting characters are not meant to aid throughout, their contribution should have an overall effect in the flow of the story and should serve a special purpose. 

Arguably, these types of characters do not necessarily have to appear always nor is there a problem if they are short-lived. This issue is not so big, but the focus of the film kept on jumping from one person to another instead of directing the limelight towards the bigger problem in the universe that Rowling wishes to introduce.

Several sub-conflicts were introduced and it snatched what valuable time could have been used to further see through the telescope. It was not properly distributed and the weight of each affected the level of intensity in the third quarter of the film.

They were eventually resolved, but the production could not figure out which of the conflicts they presented is efficient in bringing out a breathtaking climax that is expected of a successful movie franchise. Comic relief characters took in an interesting role yet failed to keep themselves relevant to be carried to the plot's turning point. They were strangling the film and became a struggle to watch.

Moreover, Priori Incantatem was once again desecrated for the sake of creative appeal. The action scenes were disappointing considering that this franchise is known for its magical barrages and wide array of incantations.

Even the portrayal of characters was short of value. Despite having Eddie Redmayne (known for his role in The Danish Girl and The Theory of Everything) as Newt, his performance was bland to the taste and flat to the eyes. It is not reasonable to say that Newt's background suggests that he must be portrayed as such, but Eddie consistently looked awful and one might ask if he will forever stay like that.

He was overshadowed by Johnny Depp who despite appearing in only two short scenes gave justice to the character of Grindelwald. His white millenial wool is one of the few good things in this film and other than that, I wouldn't mind casting obliviate on myself to forget I ever paid to watch this on the big screen.

The film should have grown up along with its audience.

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