Unexpectedly Good

Rating: 9/10 (19 December 2016)

I wasn't terribly enthused about this movie going into it. I'm in no way a Harry Potter fan (never read the books, couldn't get into the movies), and so I was skeptical about J.K. Rowling's latest wizard tale, "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them". Still, the hype surrounding the film coupled with its coming out at a time when there wasn't much else of interest on at the local theater prompted me to go see this movie. And I'm really glad that I did.
Eddie Redmayne shines in this film. If you're not familiar with his other work, I highly recommend you check out "The Theory of Everything", which he won Best Actor for a couple of years ago. Here he plays a more light-hearted role of a traveling wizard in circa 1930's America, and we are introduced to a large cast of American wizards, witches and warlocks. The movie is the right balance of black arts in a kid friendly kind of way (I'd say it's certainly suitable for kids ages ten and up, and perhaps younger). It also tells its story well, and as someone who firmly believes that storytelling is the most important part of movie making, that goes a long way for me.
All in all I have to give this movie 9/10 stars, and I've even toyed with going all in and giving it 10/10. The movie is a breath of fresh air, and there's little that can be said negative about it.
However, if I were to offer up one helpful criticism, it might be that there's a fair bit going on in the movie and that it's the kind of film you have to pay attention to of you may get lost along the way. If I'm honest, I actually saw it twice--the first time as an attempt at getting away from a stressful day, and my mind was too distracted with everything that was going on in my world to really keep up with the movie. Still, I liked it so much I decided to go back for a second viewing so as to take it all in, and enjoyed it every bit as much the second go around. It's definitely a strong 9/10.