4/10 The first “Fantastic Beasts” film was a disaster on almost every level and made my Top 10 Worst Films of 2016 List. JK Rowling proved she can write literature fairly well, but that screenwriting is an entirely different beast and she can’t do that well at all. My expectations were low for this (and they will continue to be for all of these movies) but I do think overall that this was a slight improvement over the first movie, in large part thanks to the storyline. This movie still is overall bad and has a lot of problems (apparently audiences agree since the box office for this movie has been extremely disappointing for Warner Brothers, especially when compared to the Harry Potter franchise) but at least the plot is better than the first film by a significant margin. There are still things that don’t make sense, plot holes, dumb character decisions and cliché moments but at least the story was improved upon. They also built up Jude Law as a young Dumbeldore in the trailer and he is barely in the movie and doesn’t do anything. Although they may be saving him to do more in upcoming movies, he still felt wasted as a character and actor and you could have probably taken him out of the movie and barely anything would have changed. One of the few strong points the movie has is also what was strong about the first movie, which is the incredible set design, costume design and visual effects. I could see one or more of those getting nominations at the Academy Awards for how well those are done. As pretty as the movie is to look at, it drags on too long, isn’t funny in the few moments when it tries to be and is very forgettable and in no way unique/offers you nothing new, fresh or exciting. Warner Brothers knows that making any movie in the Harry Potter universe will bring in some money from loyal fans but I feel like this movie has a hint of “Solo: A Star Wars Story” to it in the sense that people are starting to wake up to cash grabs or bad films that are made for profit instead of quality purposes and that people are wising up and choosing to watch something else. As long as they continue to make these poorly written movies, I hope the box office receipts become smaller and smaller until the studio finally decides to make something worth watching. There is no magic to be found in this dud.
#SendNewts / #Dumblebore / #RoadToRepetition / #AllSpellBreaksLoose / #CredenceFearPlotterRevival / #StupiderAscending
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