Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

I actually went into this movie not expecting much. I really liked the Harry Potter movies, but could't say I was really that excited for Fantastic Beasts. I was actually pleasantly surprised... so much so, that it ended up being in my top 10 movies of 2016.

But isn't the whole point of this to, namely, give us the character development? Credence's story had to be told as a separate subplot - he's going to be a huge part of the story going forward (yes, we all know his obscurus, or part of him, survived at the end). Imagine the film excluding the whole plot with the orphanage. Credence's importance to the plot, and death, wouldn't feel anywhere as salient as it ended up being.

The Shaw story was in turn crucial to the story of the New Salem Philanthropic Society. The organization picketed the rally where the Shaw senator was killed, in an attempt to try to get them to support their anti-witchcraft views. Besides, Shaw was one of the most influential No-Maj families in the United States during the early 20th century - the place and time the film was set. People will understand more of all this as we get more films.

I wouldn't be too worried about the political plot of the story. Rowling is being creative, and as we all know, she loves the connection between the muggle, or no-maj if you will now, and wizarding world. So far, nothing of the political plot has really had anything to do with real-world politics.

Don't worry. There's going to be more character development. We didn't know everything and anything about Harry, Ron and Hermione by the end of the first Harry Potter film either. Of course you're right about the standard they've already set with the Harry Potter films, but in my humble opinion, this film is doing a pretty darn good job at matching that.

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Always.

Characters should have enough development to sustain the film they are in. Saying, don't worry, we'll get to know them in films 2-4 is a bit of a cop out. Those Harry Potter films clearly define their characters in the first movie. This film doesn't do that great of a job. it felt more cookie cutter than anything.

One of the biggest missteps for me was the focus on the effects. Like the Star Wars prequels, I felt like this film was more concerned with the CGI Beasts than anything else, even the the act of setting up future films. I only really got a sense of that near the final act and the inclusion of that random cameo at the end. I'll say this, if Colin Farrell isn't in any of the other films, I'll be disappointed.

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"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews

This.

Snape, I fully respect your opinion, but there is no denying that from a vast majority's perspective, this film wasn't on par with the Harry Potter films. The final Harry Potter film's rating on Rotten Tomatoes is 96 %, making it one of the best-rated films on RT. Fantastic Beasts has 73 %. On Metacritic, Deathly Hallows Part II is rated 87 to Fantastic Beasts' 66.

I am kind of worried, and I will continue to be, because I want this series of films to be good. Preferably, I want it to be great. Better yet, brilliant. And thus far, it barely reaches up to the first adjective.

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It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live. — Albus Dumbledore

I liked it. Look forward to the others, if there are any.

I see what you're saying guys, you didn't like the (lack of, in your case) character development, that's all right. I thought the film was exceptionally good - from almost every perspective. Well cast, the filming and CGI effects were extremely well done, and they did a great job of expanding the world of Harry Potter already with only this first film in the series.

Well, the film's plot did revolve around creatures, so I'd say it was natural the film was keen on showing off the beasts. I'm also not very concerned about this film's rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, IMDB and other sites compared to the Potter films. Any spin-off of a tremendously successful main series will have it difficult in such evaluations - I try to look at this film individually, as a new and separate entity.

I see you already have Deathly Hallows Part 2 as your favorite film, Deathly, and I completely agree, it's among my absolute favorite films too. Much is required to match the quality of the Harry Potter films, but in my eyes, this film did do a wonderful job in expanding this incredible world. So much so, I'd say it does merit the "brilliant".

They've already started production on the second film, in light of the immense success of this first film, which has made over $810 million in worldwide box office. That has apparently merited a reportedly huge (even bigger than the first film, that is) budget for the next film. Warner Bros have stated it exceeded all expectations considering this was a spin-off with as good as nothing to do with Harry Potter.

It's also confirmed by Rowling herself that there will be four sequels in this series - five films in total. They initially planned for a trilogy, but I guess they figured Harry Potter related content make too much money.

When the series is over and done with, the first film will feel so out of place because of the beasts plot.

Snape, you're making some solid points, I feel we should leave it at this. It's all subjective in the end. I do agree with what TheUsualSuspect is saying; this film will likely stand as the weird one when the series is over.

Haven't read too much news on the sequels, and I wonder: Do you know if there's any truth to the rumors saying Yates won't direct the next film(s)? The Potter films had four different directors, so it'll be interesting to see if they decide to go down a similar path with this series. Also, do you know how large this reportedly huge budget is? And, although I doubt it given it would've blown up the internet leading me to know, have there been any recent rumors with the Dumbledore casting? Very excited to see who'll play his younger version.

Yates is confirmed for the sequel. Think it's highly likely he will direct at least another one after that.

This article states Yates has said he's ready to direct all five Fantastic Beasts films, but will take it one film at a time. I'd love to see someone like Alfonso Cuarón (Prisoner of Azkaban), Christopher Nolan or Guillermo Del Toro getting a shot at one of these films.

Apparently the budget could be as big as $250 million excluding marketing costs - matching the most expensive Harry Potter film (Half-Blood Prince). The budget for the first Fantastic Beasts film was $180 million excluding an estimated $150 million in global marketing costs. In other words, they could end up increasing the budget for the next film with as much as $70 million, as I would assume the marketing costs stay pretty similar. Wouldn't come as a surprise, given the success of the first film.

While not yet confirmed who will play him, the casting search has most certainly begun for a younger Dumbledore. Daniel Craig, Tom Hardy, Michael Fassbender, Hugh Jackman, Daniel Day-Lewis, Jared Harris, Damian Lewis, Ewan McGregor and Colin Firth are only a few of the names speculated for the role. I think someone like Day-Lewis or Harris would make an excellent young Dumbledore.

Would like to see somebody else having a go at directing one of the films. Nolan would make it really cool for sure. Cuarón too obviously, though I doubt he'll do any of them. Recently said he's not looking to be involved in projects based around lots of visual effects anytime soon, so I guess that's a big fat no on the Fantastic Beasts films. $250 million budget?!?! Holy moly! Yeah, this first film did really well, but jeez. I mean, they know it'll make a ton of cash anyways... Didn't know HBP had the biggest budget of the HP films, that's interesting. Would've thought it to be DH Part II.

As for Dumbledore, although I suspect the likes of Craig, Hardy and Jackman might come off as a tad too daunting for the role, those all look like decent enough options to me. Big age gap between some of them though. Tom Hardy and Michael Fassbender are both only about to turn 40, Daniel Day-Lewis is soon in his 60s. Dumbledore is around 45 in the first Fantastic Beasts film, so pretty sure I'd rather go with the age-group of Day-Lewis. The plot is moving 20 years forward by the last film, meaning Dumbledore will be around 65 in the last film.

Seconded, I'll be furious if this happens. They HAVE to bring him back, assuming Grindelwald kidnapped him. Hopefully, Graves' story is similar to that of Mad-Eye in GOF meaning the real Graves is out there somewhere!

On the actual movie though, I thought it was great. Definitely in my top five of 2016. Colin Farrell has gone from being an actor I've disliked to being one I love, in part because of his performance in this movie. Such a shame if he doesn't return for any of the sequels.

Newt (and Eddie in general) is awesome, the quartet as a whole is spot on. Will we be seeing Jacob in the sequels? For sure. That ending and the overall focus on him as a character was too big for him not to return. Credence? He'll be in the sequels too for sure. If you look carefully you can see Newt notices a piece of the obscurus survived.

Who will play Dumbledore? No idea, but they'll find an awesome actor for him and I simply can't wait to see the beloved character back on the big screen. Also loved that final reveal with Johnny Depp. He's going to have a second iconic character soon beside Jack Sparrow.

I agree Potter, the ending was really well-done and did save the film a bit for me. Loved how they illustrated Grindelwald's true power when he single-handedly overpowered everyone in there at once until Newt (unfairly) catched him. Shivers all over when Newt slowly walked towards him saying: "Revelio". Think Depp will own the role.

Yep, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is one of the most expensive films ever made, so it's very possible the next Fantastic Beasts films will join that club. They actually split the budget for the Deathly Hallows parts -- $125 million budget on each, though I highly doubt this was an even split. I'd say almost $200 million (and at the very least $150 million) of it went into Part 2 considering that was a special effects blockbuster -- Part 1 much less so with its slow, dialogue embossed production.

That's really interesting, I bet you at least 95 % of people would've said DH Part II was the most expensive film in the series, including me. I wonder why HBP had such a big budget compared to the rest, and why they would up the budget so much specifically for the sixth film. Sure, there were some absolutely incredible special effects in it, but that did apply to all the films in a pretty similar degree.

Could it have been due to Jim Broadbent and his fabulously spot-on portrayal of Slughorn?

Most of Half-Blood Prince's budget hike was due to a lot of the cast's contracts coming up for renegotiation. In addition, the film had huge amounts of time-consuming CGI. The entire scene near the end when Harry and Dumbledore hunt the horcrux in the cave is CGI. Furthermore, the cinematography of Half-Blood Prince was more advanced than the previous films with complex lighting and a rich palette.

Regarding the considerably bigger budget specifically of Half-Blood Prince, it's important to remember that the Deathly Hallows parts were filmed at the same time as one movie. When you think of it that way -- with Deathly Hallows technically being one film, thus having the same budget as Half-Blood Prince -- then both of the last two films had bigger budgets than the rest, which makes perfect sense as opposed to saying the sixth film had a much bigger budget than all the other films, including the seventh and eighth.

Haha, on a serious note, Jim was such a fantastic casting, like so many of the actors in Harry Potter. I honestly don't think anyone in the whole wide world could've played the role of Horace better than what Jim did. Character portrayal taken to perfection.

Hands up, who misread this as "Fantastic Breasts..."

I did the same the first time I saw the title. I've even seen Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them, and that was on this forum, lol!

Wouldn't doubt it, the man even told Dumbledore he expected a raise!