Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (it's a movie)

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gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,739
454
126
The book is a few dozen pages long and is a simple "text book" of magical beasts - there is no story.
HA! didn't even notice the mistake in the thread topic :)

Edit: Edited the thread title. D'oh!

Gotcha, didn't know what it was about. Should be pretty good either way
 

Homerboy

Lifer
Mar 1, 2000
30,890
5,001
126
Gotcha, didn't know what it was about. Should be pretty good either way

Yeah it was a small book in a set of 3 (if I recall). The "Fantastic Beasts" was supposed to be one of Harry's used textbooks so it had all small annotations and such in it. The movie really had nothing to do with that book as there just was not any storyline at all.

The other books in that small set were something about Quidditch and I think Tales of Beedle the Bard
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,081
136
Its OK.

Story isnt quite as good as the previous films. A few cameos including one super secret cameo but I'm telling. You have to go see it.

Also, you do NOT need any knowledge of Harry Potter to enjoy it, nor will it spoil any Harry Potter movies, so dont hold off if thats your only reason.
 

Homerboy

Lifer
Mar 1, 2000
30,890
5,001
126
Just got back and loved it. I'll type up more tomorrow, but I thought it was very well done with minimal complaints.
 

Homerboy

Lifer
Mar 1, 2000
30,890
5,001
126
Here is my "review" from the movie review thread:

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - 8.5/10

First off, I fully admit you'd have to be a HP fan I think to fully enjoy the film. It really did a great job of taking you back into that universe and immersing you in it. I was nervous about how it would be going into the movie(s) not knowing the characters or the story line, but they did a pretty solid job of making you care about (most of) the characters pretty quickly -- certainly Eddie Redmayne's portrayal of Newt Scamander.

The storyline was pretty good but there were a few tangential subplots that sort of seemed wedged in there, but I think (hope?) that they are more of a setup for the following movies to help build the complete story arch. Lots of little hints back to the Harry Pottery storylines and characters which makes things fun and helps tie everything together. I'm VERY interested to see where they take the storyline and which characters carry through to the next films.

One thing that bugged me throughout the movie was Redmayne's in ability to stand up straight and actually look people in the eye. I get it, he's shy and awkward, but ti was annoying as hell how accentuated it was. Maybe it's just the angry dad in me... I dunnno.

Also, there's a surprise actor at the end of the movie. I won't spoil it. I wasn't took happy with it, as I just think it was unwarranted, but I was surprised they were able to keep it a secret -- at least I wasn't aware of it, nor were a lot of Potter nerds in the theater from the sound of it.
 

nakedfrog

No Lifer
Apr 3, 2001
61,775
17,490
136
Its OK.

Story isnt quite as good as the previous films. A few cameos including one super secret cameo but I'm telling. You have to go see it.

Also, you do NOT need any knowledge of Harry Potter to enjoy it, nor will it spoil any Harry Potter movies, so dont hold off if thats your only reason.
Is it Gandalf? I'll bet it's Gandalf. He's my favorite Harry Potter guy.
 

drbrock

Golden Member
Feb 8, 2008
1,333
8
81
Harry Potter fan Score 9.5

I was VERY skeptical about this movie. Had to go either way because it is related to Harry Potter. I think this is my new favorite of the HP universe. It was a bit more adult than the others. I think some themes were too strong to take my nephews. The trailers do an extremely poor job of explaining what this movie is about.

All the character arcs made me feel for them and I cant wait to see where they take it next. Only the president bothered me. I found her annoying and somewhat stupid. It really did bring me back to the universe and it was a nice feeling. Wish these movies were full length books. I would be buying them ASAP.

There was a very childish/corny scene with a hippo that is ready to mate. End of movie surprise was weak. I wish they would have chose anyone but that star.

Was expecting this to be a 6-7/10 but came out pleasantly surprised. Non Harry Potter Fan I would think this would be a solid 7.5.

Can't wait for the sequels. When I heard they were making this 5 movies I was worried. Now this can go 5 no problem. In JK I Trust. Should have never doubted her...
 
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gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,739
454
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Saw it today, good stuff. As not much of a HP fan (I've seen each movie, but some only once) but I thought this was better than at least 3 or 4 of the previous HP movies. It's definitely one of the better in the series. I didn't hate Colin Farrell in this movie as much as I thought I would, so he fit the role fairly well.
 

VtPC83

Senior member
Mar 5, 2008
447
12
81
Good HP movie. Seemed much darker (plotwise) than I would have thought for a 'childrens' movie as in quite a bit more death than expected (think last movie of HP series itself). Seems HP has started to become more adult themed given that a lot of those kids who started years ago are now adults.
 

Sonikku

Lifer
Jun 23, 2005
15,882
4,882
136
Saw it yesterday. It wasn't bad. Seemed a bit long though and I may just be getting old but I don't think I fully understood everything that was going on all the time. I'm not a hardcore HP fan though and have only seen the movies so I'm probably not getting all the nods and references from the books.
 

Ns1

No Lifer
Jun 17, 2001
55,420
1,600
126
Good HP movie. Seemed much darker (plotwise) than I would have thought for a 'childrens' movie as in quite a bit more death than expected (think last movie of HP series itself). Seems HP has started to become more adult themed given that a lot of those kids who started years ago are now adults.

Fantastic Beasts definitely marketed towards older generation, with the PG-13 rating to match.
 

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,739
454
126
Saw it yesterday. It wasn't bad. Seemed a bit long though and I may just be getting old but I don't think I fully understood everything that was going on all the time. I'm not a hardcore HP fan though and have only seen the movies so I'm probably not getting all the nods and references from the books.

There were times I felt a little lost, but most was eventually explained by the end.

Also, 7 out of the 8 other HP movies have longer run times than this.
 

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,739
454
126
Im waiting for the sequel, Fantastic Breasts and Where to Find Them.

Just a general question for the people out there... how do I "unlike" something on these forums? Or maybe a simple *groan* button for terrible jokes?
 
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Sonikku

Lifer
Jun 23, 2005
15,882
4,882
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There were times I felt a little lost, but most was eventually explained by the end.

Also, 7 out of the 8 other HP movies have longer run times than this.
Maybe the pacing was not on par then. It "felt" longer.
 

Pulsar

Diamond Member
Mar 3, 2003
5,224
306
126
Maybe the pacing was not on par then. It "felt" longer.

This movie felt very long. My kids love Harry potter, but my middle one leaned over 40 minutes in and told me the movie was a bit boring.

Yeah, the critters were cute and all, but CGI magical animals don't make for an amazing movie any more. The last time I went 'wow' over CGI was Terminator 2 - and that still looks pretty good by today's standards.

I agree about the lead character's whole quasimodo acting style. It started to bother me too. Frankly the baker was, by far, the best actor of the bunch.

I still have not been impressed by the magical fight scenes in the Harry Potter universe. The only 'good' one was the Dumbledore vs. Voldemort scene in the Department of Mysteries. I think about all the things you could do with magic, and these guys rely on throwing around little squirts out of their wand. "Pew pew pew". "Pew pew pew".

5/10.
 

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,739
454
126
This movie felt very long. My kids love Harry potter, but my middle one leaned over 40 minutes in and told me the movie was a bit boring.

Yeah, the critters were cute and all, but CGI magical animals don't make for an amazing movie any more. The last time I went 'wow' over CGI was Terminator 2 - and that still looks pretty good by today's standards.

I agree about the lead character's whole quasimodo acting style. It started to bother me too. Frankly the baker was, by far, the best actor of the bunch.

I still have not been impressed by the magical fight scenes in the Harry Potter universe. The only 'good' one was the Dumbledore vs. Voldemort scene in the Department of Mysteries. I think about all the things you could do with magic, and these guys rely on throwing around little squirts out of their wand. "Pew pew pew". "Pew pew pew".

5/10.

That's always the problem with these movies for me. The application of magic seems very arbitrary and certain scenes would seem infinitely easier with magic that's ignored for the sake of creating drama. Now again, I only saw the original series through once, but I certainly don't remember people teleporting willy nilly like they are in this movie which is set far in the past. A skill that seems quite easy given that multiple characters are using it to get in and out of places in a hurry. Lots of scenes in HP could have been a lot less of an issue if everybody could just *poof* and appear elsewhere. Did they forget how to do that over the years?
 

Pulsar

Diamond Member
Mar 3, 2003
5,224
306
126
That's always the problem with these movies for me. The application of magic seems very arbitrary and certain scenes would seem infinitely easier with magic that's ignored for the sake of creating drama. Now again, I only saw the original series through once, but I certainly don't remember people teleporting willy nilly like they are in this movie which is set far in the past. A skill that seems quite easy given that multiple characters are using it to get in and out of places in a hurry. Lots of scenes in HP could have been a lot less of an issue if everybody could just *poof* and appear elsewhere. Did they forget how to do that over the years?

Naw. There was apparating in Harry Potter, but since the vast majority of the movie took place in and around Hogwarts you didn't see it. Hogwarts had spells against apparation placed on the grounds.