Shows American Wizards as the AH's we really are

Rating: 7/10 (18 August 2017)

I would have rather seen the British locale instead of New York. They showed what kind of people we truly are. I don't like David Yates directing. He may be everyone's friend on the set but he is also the director who cut off the Dursleys on HP changed the endings & filmed the half blood prince in Yellow lights.
The best director would have been Chris Columbus who did the 1st 2 HP's and was faithful to every aspect of the books. He set the standard. It would not have been such a great series of films if Columbus had not directed the 1st two films. I wish he could have directed them all.
Yates allows the DP to swoop past everything so fast, we can't enjoy or appreciate the background details & props of the wizarding world. If not for the pause button, I never could have read the alert meter. Without the DVD extras, I never could have seen the carvings. Same goes for the wonderful international costumes they failed to show us. The only Macusa magic features were the 2 house elves, the alert clock & the animated messages.
While the actor portraying Newt looked like a match for his role, on several occasions he had an inappropriate smirky grin which did not go with the scene or dialogue. His facial expressions did not match the scenes. He was not believable in his delivery. Only his appearance fit the role.
I did not care for the character Tina in any respect. I did not like her role, character, the plot or her acting. Nor did I care for Macusa. The building or the people. Nor the story line & the stupidity involved in the characters, carelessly & incompetently losing animals. It was written & filmed like a vaudeville slapstick comedy full of stupid AH Americans. Being one myself, the recognition is unmistakable.
Then we had the death pool. Who would keep something like that at the Ministry unless they held frequent executions. Not to mention the sickening grins & patronizing attitudes of the 2 women trying to put them to death. As if they were enjoying the task of killing fellow wizards. And where was their wizengamot trial? Then the Macusa president orders the death of a child for violating rules they never went to wizarding school to learn. Since when are children executed & without a trial. The plot of the Senator also did not fit.
There was also that ridiculous, offensive breeding dance by Newt which we could have lived without. And the repeated escapes of a niffler because the word "Reparo" wasn't in Newts vocabulary. He also didn't connect as compassionate toward his creatures. He was very lackadaisical & unconcerned about them. Not to mention not securing the case to keep them from harms way.
Since when does an expelled student have a wand or be allowed to disapparate or perform magic? Yet, expelled Newt does all these things.
It was one thing to use a tri-wing design on one creature, but the same wing design on 2 was absurd (Thunderbird & Occamy.) Not to mention the similarity to a hippogriff. I liked the creatures & efforts but not their lack of diversity. Some creatures were quite neat but we barely saw them.
The plot was awful & poorly written. A shock for a Rowling novel. I agree with the actors about the utter waste of money creating real props for drawers that are never opened. Millions are being wasted.
However, the saving grace was the characters Jacob & Queenie and the actors who played them. They stole the show completely. His giggle water scene was hysterical. As was the bowtruckles scene. Utterly enjoyable from beginning to end. I could have watched them another hour. They could have left Newt & Tina on the cutting room floor as they thankfully did for Jacob's prior girlfriend.
Newt overdid the stumble bum persona & made his character too stupid to be a creature expert & too dispassionate to be a caretaker. His inappropriate facial expressions did not match the dialogue or situation such as grinning about not turning the swooping evil loose inside his suitcase house with Jacob. Or his total lack of concern when Jacob was bitten in the first place by his escaped animals, no less from repeated slap stick suitcase swaps & bad, unsecured luggage latches.
However, the movie is worth watching just to see Jacob, Queenie & the creatures. Especially, the bowtruckle. Thankfully, the next film will be in the UK.
But as with all her books, she always includes a wizarding villain; ad nauseam. They think we can't enjoy a movie or book without a nasty bad villain. There are other stories without "evil versus good" wars. She just cant let go of Voldemort & now Grindlewald.
But this movie seems to unintentionally imply what happened to Dumbledore's sister. She must have been an Obscurus after the 3 human boys terrorized her. After seeing the power of Dumbledore's sister, Grindlewald went to seek one in the US. They haven't told us any of this yet, but I suspect they will. Ending the series in 2024 with the famous duel & the search for the deadly hallows.
After 8 prior movies, I expected better from Rowling. I like the idea & creature plot but only the 2 characters & actors for Queenie & Jacob and their relationship. The actor playing Jacob was brilliant, endearing & funny. One of the best acting jobs I've seen in a long time. Queenie's performance perfectly complemented Jacobs. They made the movie worth watching. More time with the animals in the suitcase would have been nice & a better job of magicking the Macusa building would have been nice.
Please bring back Chris Columbus to direct. You can have tea with Yates on your own time.