Absolutely terrible

Rating: 1/10 (16 November 2016)

What happened? No, really, WHAT. HAPPENED??
I haven't read the book, but then again I only read the last Harry Potter book so my review is only based on what I saw in the movie, and the comparisons will only be concerning the movies.
I absolutely love the Harry Potter world and series, but this movie was beyond boring.
First and foremost, there was a striking lack of a "wow factor". Nothing, and I mean NOTHING about the movie screamed "WOW". I finished re-watching the complete Harry Potter series a few months ago and felt the same wow factor I used to feel each time I'd watch a Harry Potter movie when I was younger, just a bit dimmed since I've seen those movies several times. However this movie had absolutely nothing gripping or touching like the other series, even though it tried. It was as if it was written by a completely different person than J.K. Rowling.
Concerning the acting. Only the main characters were good. Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, and Dan Fogler all did a fine job. Colin Farrell was ridiculous. It seemed like he had lost a bet and was being forced to play the role against his will, without pay... Not an ounce of emotion was present in his acting, and he wasn't playing a robot, so emotion had its place in that role. The "president" Carmen Ejogo couldn't act if her life was on the line. At certain points it was so bad the scene felt like a failed audition. Seriously, who the hell thought those two were good matches for those roles? (or even a good choice for any role in any movie in the case of Carmen Ejogo).
In the Harry Potter series, I could care about each and every character (except the very few, third place boring ones). I would be amazed at both the good guys and the bad guys. All actors portrayed their roles so well, so brilliantly and with such richness that some of them were Oscar-worthy. But in this movie? No. Just, no. Not even the main characters were compelling enough to make me want to learn ANYTHING about them. They were all Boring beyond belief.
The plot had potential, but since I haven't read the book, I can't say if the director screwed up or if there really was a lack of imagination on J.K. Rowling's part.
Last but most-certainly not least: A very big reason the movie didn't scream "amazing" and "wonder" is that it's based in New York. J.K. tried to make this series so different than the other one that she actually destroyed it. One of the things that was so cool about the Wizarding world of Harry Potter is that it took place in a Victorian setting. The Victorian setting is famous for being Gothic and full of darkness and mystery. In my opinion, to take away something that gave the initial series such value was a very, VERY big mistake. The story might as well have taken place in the sahara desert. Both would have been equally disconcerting.
I wasn't after a Harry Potter movie, well actually I was, who wouldn't be? But seriously, I knew it had nothing to do with Harry Potter, but still I expected to witness the same level of intelligence and imagination that I've gotten used to witness from J.K. Rowling. The lack of these in this movie, sadly, was the biggest disappointment of all.
All in all the movie felt weak, bleak, and disconcerted. It just didn't know where it was going at any point in time. I can't remember how many time I was about to leave the theater before convincing myself that it might get better. Well it didn't. As Ron once said before storming out of the bar: Waste of my time, ******* waste of my time!