A Prequel to a Prequel

Rating: 8/10 (21 September 2017)

I'll admit, I watched the film a few times before rendering a vote, but I found it to be a decent entry in the "world" of Harry Potter. I am one that hasn't read the books but saw every movie and became a decent fan of it that way. If you've seen the films and paid attention to little details, "Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them" actually ties in pretty well. The problem is, many will miss that.
This movie has a big cast, and several stories running through it. Some I liked, some I didn't. The story I could do without was the election one (with Jon Voight), it seemed to weigh the story down. I understand it was meant to expose an element, but it wasn't that necessary to do so in such a convoluted way. If they just nixed this all and took a few sentences to explain it instead, it would have saved 20 minutes of the film.
I liked the story of Jacob (the aspiring baker) and how he happened upon Newt (played by Eddie Redmayne) and Porpentina (played by Katherine Waterston) and Queenie (played by Alison Sudol) and those 'Fantastic Beasts' - and 'where to find them'. The 'beasts' were okay, some very colorful, some not really fully realized as I would have liked to see them.
Creedence (played by Ezra Miller) was a bit of a letdown for me -- maybe because of the unveiling wasn't "dark" enough of a creature for me, but a CGI puff of smoke and even before that, I was trying to get a feel for the character and was all over the place on it. I've seen scarier more threatening ones in PG movies and I think this movie needed a better one. And Creedence's story overall needed to be better fleshed out.
The story that confuses folks the most is the one of Percival (played by Collin Farrell). This is why I watched the film a few times before it dawned on me that this is what will connect it to the franchise. When I finally 'got it' was when I thought this was a good prequel to a prequel.
The 'Percival' story just got really bogged down and drawn out to get to the point - and I would think the die-hard Harry Potter fans got it immediately --in the end, and that was the unfortunate part. I would have liked more clues THROUGHOUT the film leading to the reveal at the end. Why? Because of those somewhat Harry Potter fans like me, it took a minute to 'get' -- but after I realized what was going on, I am looking forward to the next installment. What is it, I think..? Well (And warning -- here maybe a BIG SPOILER!!!)'Percival' wasn't really 'Percival' but ... the dark arts master Gilbert Grindenwald! Wow!!! If you're now still wondering who Grindenwald is, then I can understand why the whole thing is still confusing. However, what is important to know is that Grindenwald and eventual Hogwarts Professor Dumbledore have a huge...and I mean HUGE ... history before Harry Potter. This is an exciting prospect.
I think this was an attempt to bring the Grindenwald/Dumbledore story into the Harry Potter franchise/world. "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them", introduced you to those that will be important to Harry Potter's world, but this now is their World. Don't discount this film. There are so many hints to what is to come. But ya gotta go through this first. And don't miss the'subtle' but interesting barb of the two competing best Wizardry Schools, one in North America, Ilvermorny and Hogwarts! Two Wizardry Schools?!?!? Wow! For me, this film is getting to some very excellent upcoming stories was longer and got convoluted than need be to get to (or understand for some) and made what could have been a really great film entry into the next side of the Harry Potter world, a longer one than need be.