When I first heard that Fantastic Beasts was going to be produced as part of the Harry Potter universe I immediately thought it won't work and it will ruin the previous films for me. However the more I heard people raving about it, the more I wanted to see it. So I bought a ticket (to a 3D showing) and went in with an open mind. I have to say, I was not astounded like I was with the other films. That being said I thought the film was an amazing stand alone film, however, the story was written by J.K Rowling and directed by David Yates who directed the final 5 films in the Harry Potter series meaning that it is impossible to write a review without comparing it to the other films.
In terms of it's magical intent I thought it did the franchise a favour with the weird and wonderful assortment of 'fantastic beasts', spells and creative words and effects. However I was not particularly keen on the idea of the film being set in New York, while I'm sure it's an amazing place and has a huge pedigree for high budget films, Harry Potter is a British franchise through and through. However, technically it's not a Harry Potter film is it? Furthermore, the entirety of the film was shot in the UK so that makes up for it!
Despite the fantastic effects, magic and acting; the story was below par. I have to say J.K Rowling has done an excellent job with the writing, but compared to the old films, this was not what I expected. The story was thin, there was no outright 'baddy' like Voldemort and it was never really clear what our hero was doing in New York in the first place. As well as this, I didn't feel like newt had enough involvement in the story, in the previous films Harry was always the centre of the story and he always instigated events, however, when I think about this story, I immediately think: would events have played out in the same way if newt was never there?
Although, I did think Eddie Redmayne did a brilliant job as Newt and the rest of the crew brought the story to life in a way I could have never imagined, part of this was down to J.K Rowling's amazing writing. The effects were just as good, if not better than the previous films which can be expected with new equipment and techniques. The film brought everything in one big package, it was funny, emotional, thrilling and most of all enchanting. I will most likely go and see it again, this time in 2D as although I felt engrossed in the movie, it distracted a bit from the dialogue and story. The cinematography was excellent and really brought the wizarding world to life.
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