Uninviting characters, unreal cgi, slow start

Rating: 3/10 (22 November 2016)

I went to this movie as, while I'm not a HP nerd, I did enjoy the first few films and I like the story theme of looking after/capturing fantasy creatures. However, I left the film disappointed.
The characters to me, especially Newt and Tina, who were both playing the "Shy awkward" type and lacked any chemistry or audience appeal. They were too inward, speaking to themselves rather than other characters, but at the same time they didn't have any mystery or intrigue.
The setting is also very mundane, the 1920s wasn't the most vibrant time but even the magical realm was very plain with bad cgi.
Which leads me on to the monsters. I wish they'd gone with at least some physical puppets. As a main part of the plot, the weightless sub-par rendering really let me down. Major suspects were the goblin club dancer ( which gave me an Oblivion character vibe), the demiguise with bad texturing and hair-physics and the Thunderbird, who looked hollow.
I will say the Obscurus did look interesting though, it was well designed as a faceless angry mass.
The crazy anti-magic cult felt like they were from another movie, and without the HP element, you could easily make a Carrie-esque horror.
The pacing is also slow at the beginning, you could easily walk in on the animal-care scene and not miss much.
Overall, just a very mundane movie which is a pity for the HP franchise and fantasy films in general.