No Heart or Imagination

Rating: 4/10 (2 December 2016)

It's always tough for a reboot or a reimagining of a franchise to win over the hearts of all viewers. The Harry Potter films were this generation's Star Wars. It was always going to be an uphill battle for Fantastic Beasts and in my opinion, the film never even got off the ground. With no heart, weak visual effects, and surprisingly little imagination, Fantastic Beasts and How to Get Bored turns out the most disappointing film going experience of this year.
I'm going to try and not compare the film too much to its predecessors, because that's ultimately unfair. This was a new thing. There are only a few little references here and there to characters we knew. After all, this film takes place 70 years before Harry entered Hogwarts. With that said, I'm not sure what the appeal here is without an attachment to the series. Sure, J.K. Rowling comes back and makes her screen writing debut, but the script felt so basic and unimaginative. Aside from some nicely time physical humor, this was a sloppily paced missed opportunity.
Our new wizard team comprised of talented actors Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterson, Dan Fogler, and Alison Sudol. I'm not sure if it was because the youth and innocence is no longer there (like with the original team at Hogwarts), but I didn't care at all for the team. Fogler, who plays Kowalski, has some great (and I mean great) comedic moments, but I didn't find anything compelling or charismatic about this particular group. Unfortunately, Redmayne gets lost in his obscure quirkiness (as does Ezra Miller for that matter), and Colin Farrell's Graves' character was criminally underused.
Speaking of Farrell, I have no idea why he would want to take on such a role. The third act reveals that Farrell is actually the dangerous wizard, Grindelwald undercover. Of course, none other than Johnny Depp himself was officially cast as Grindelwald a few weeks ago for the upcoming films. Why in the world get such a talented actor in Farrell if you're just going to switch him to another famous actor the next second? It just seemed like a waste to me.
I hope other people found enjoyment in this film, because I certainly did not. But hey, I still have faith that a sequel could be good. 5 movies? I'm not so sure about, but I wouldn't mind seeing another one of these films. Coming from a big Potter film fan, this was a massive disappointment.
+Kowalski provided some entertainment
-Farrell wasted
-No real heart
-The new team is uninteresting and lacks charisma
-Surprisingly mediocre CGI
4.0/10