Fantastic but with deductions.

Rating: 7/10 (16 November 2016)

Today I left the cinema with mixed feelings. When I saw the first trailer of this movie I was excited, because I like the urban fantasy setting of the Harry Potter universe. Unfortunately Fantastic Beasts couldn't convince me completely. One big positive factor of the movie is the cast. Eddie Redmayne acts great and incarnate perfectly Newt as a sympathetic protagonist. Also the rest of the cast is suitable and sympathetic. I want to emphasize Dan Fogler who plays his role glorious. The charm of the magic was again very well captured. The self-stirring spoon in the cocoa and the many other small details are very coherent and convey this typical Harry Potter Flair. Also very good is the sound (no I don't mean the music) of this movie. I think this is a big reason to watch this movie in theaters, because the sound mixing is great for the big screen (more for the big Hi Fi equipment). So watch this movie in theaters if you have the possibility, because technically it is solid. Some of the audience I watch with didn't like the CGI effects, but in my opinion it was good. Not great, just good and fitting. The narration in the whole movie was the big con for me. The movie has this inconsequent narration. The main problem is that the film tells the two action strings too parallel, so they won 't fix well. Through this, the film becomes too predictable and loses some of its strength. The beginning scene was misleadingly and out of the context, for people who won't read the book. Here, too much was done according to the typical Hollywood formula. The story is pushed too strongly in one direction and the narrative speed is a bit too leisurely for my taste. The whole film would have done 15 to 20 minutes less well. So I promised myself more and I missed something that makes this movie special. With this strong template in the back and the big cast I would have just expected a more rounded movie which sticks out of the mass. I give Fantastic Beasts 7/10, because it is an entertaining movie, with a strong cast, but the narration issues made it a typical Hollywood movie. Not great, not bad, just good. Watch it but don't expect something mind blowing.