Review of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) by Dr_Heartless — 22 Nov 2016

Painfully bland and full of wasted potential. The movie's "dark" tone is totally unearned. Sure it looks dark, cribbing HARD from the last two Potter movies for music and tone. It really just comes down to the movie marketing itself as dark when in reality this is a pretty lighthearted film.

None of the dread and desperation that made the "Deathly Hallows" so memorable are present. The characters are flat. You get to know almost nothing about them and that do not grow or change at all.

The story is constantly trying to throw twists at the audience but none of it matters anyway due to there never really being clear stakes. It all feels hallow. In fact the big twist at the end is so utterly ridiculous that I actually exclaimed "Oh come on" out loud in the theater.

If you're okay with a brainless popcorn movie for the holidays this is perfect. There's some fun to be had for long time Potter fans but that's about it.