Large Popcorn Review

MPAA Rating: PG-13
Family Friendly?: Yes

After the success of the Harry Potter franchise, Warner Brothers wanted to continue the adventures in the wizarding world that was established. Instead of continuing the adventures of Harry Potter, they decided to create a new franchise that takes place a couple decades before the “boy who lived” was born. So what better way to make a new franchise than to base it off a textbook that Harry had to read his first year at Hogwarts…

PLOT:

Though the textbook is about magical creatures in the wizarding world, the movie follows the adventures of the wizard and author himself, Newt Scamander. Adventuring to New York City in the year 1926, Newt is there to take one of his creatures to a sanctuary. However, trouble arises when he mistakenly grabs someone else’s briefcase, and they accidentally open his, which allows all of Newt’s creatures to escape. Now with the help of the man who opened the briefcase, (), and two witch sisters, the group attempt to stop these creatures from running amok around the city. During their journey, they will come across a group of people who are adamant of getting rid of magical people and reveal their existence to the “muggle” world. Will Newt be able to recapture all of the creatures, or will he be arrested before he can save the day?

WHAT DID IT DO?:

As a Harry Potter fan myself, I was skeptical about the film when I first heard about it. A movie based in the Harry Potter world before Harry Potter? (And I thought a Venom movie without Spider-Man would be strange) Though it sounds odd, the movie was very good, and it fabricated elements that can make sequels that would be more memorable than this film.

When the audience was first introduced to the Wizarding World, it took place in the United Kingdom, and everyone there was British. This time around, the film took time to focus on the Wizarding World in the United States. This was what many fans wanted to see, what would it be like to be a wizard in America. It’s very interesting what Wizards do in the US compared to what they do in the UK. Wizards here are looked down upon in terms of their existence, and their world is mainly kept in the shadows. There were some ways to incorporate the time period along with showing that the Wizarding World needed to hide. For example, there is a magical speakeasy that is only known to creatures and other inhabitants of that world. Though it was unique to show what it was like in the US, I really hope they go back to the UK in the sequels to see iconic places that were already established to the fans.

This movie’s visuals still have that wonder and awe they did in the original Harry Potter movies. There are so many times in this movie that you can just focus on how beautifully shot the scenes are, or even how the creatures look like they could actually be real. There’s one scene in particular when it shows the Ministry of Magic in the United States, and just seeing how much was going on in that scene, along with attention to detail of background characters, was absolutely a sight to see.

One thing that really bothered me about the movie is Newt Scamander himself. I believe that his character was good and interesting, however, there is one thing the actor did a terrible job at. The volume of Newt’s voice. No matter how many times I say this movie, I had to rewind it every time he spoke, along with putting on the subtitles in order to understand what he was saying. Eddie Redmayne was good at portraying the odd protector of these creatures, however, they really need to get him to talk louder in the sequels to make these films good.

OVERALL:
Although this film is enjoyable, there are some flaws that make it not as good as the Harry Potter films. With the sequel, “The Crimes of Grindelwald” (2018), about to be released, there is hope that this will rekindle the spark to make these films as good as the original franchise. Not only that, but hopefully if Newt’s voice isn’t increased in volume, they will at least put captions on the screen so audiences can actually understand this wizard.

RATING:
3.8/5 POPCORN KERNELS