After all this time?

Rating: 10/10 (19 November 2016)

I have been counting days for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them since the moment it was announced. I was so anxious when the plot they revealed was just about Newt losing his creatures and capturing them again, as it sounded too shallow. After the first few trailers, we saw that there was a bigger picture and I began getting high hopes.
I cannot say I was disappointed. After the film, I sat and stared at the wall for hours, not saying anything but just thinking about the film. The major new element that J.K. has added to her world had hit me so hard, yet after thinking about the film as a whole, and how shocking the revelations such as "Horcruxes" and "wand owner issues" were at the beginning and how they turned out to be, I started becoming satisfied. It was breathtaking and connecting the phenomenon with an important character we already know and will take place in the pentalogy *no spoilers* enlightened me.
Apart from the greater plot, the beasts were FANTASTIC. I could not believe how every single one of them made me want one of them, as some were not even supposed to be cute but were. I was so satisfied with how much they added to the descriptions in the book, in terms of both looks and attributes.
I disagree with everyone who thought the characters were paper-thin. They made me associate with them (e.g., Newt's introvert personality, Tina's struggles, Jacob's dreams) and I liked all more than I thought I would.
The CGI was quite nice, except for Frank the Thunderbird and Gnarlak the Goblin, as I saw it in IMAX 3D. Because it was already revealed, I feel free to say that Johnny Depp was actually worse than I expected, as it looked like Grindelwald was Johnny Depp and unfortunately not the other way round.
Being a Potterhead as far as it goes, I terribly enjoyed the film without watching it as a hardcore fan but as a critic. Don't hesitate to make inappropriate sounds in the middle of the theatre when the Warner Bros. logo appears (not me or anything, just what a friend of mine did...), for THE MAGIC CLEARLY NEVER ENDS.