Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

A man goes around collecting magical beasts in a magical suitcase. It’s the Harry Potter-Pokemon crossover you never knew you wanted!

Not even close to being as good as the first (and worst) Harry Potter film. Where the original franchise works hard to build a tangible world for its characters, this one is happy to sit back and rely almost 100% on computer animation.

This isn’t always a failure, see Paddington, but Fantastic Beasts suffers from the cold bland detachment CG can bring. This applies to the environment but also sadly the beasts themselves, who are really just part of the scenery. It’s unclear if the actors even had a vague idea of what the finished product was going to look like.

Mulch that together with a ropey, meandering plot and you have a dull start to a new franchise. I hope they get better because I’m about to go and watch the next one!