Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them is an Incredible Film!

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay by J.K. Rowling

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I saw the movie in 3D Imax and I didn't like there were many unanswered questions. Like who exactly is Newt Scamander? or Grindelwald in relationship to the wizarding world. I knew of Grindelwald from the Harry Potter series but not much. There was a write up about him in Rita Skeeters book I would've like to read along with Hermione :) What I found was that Newt was a student of Hogwarts who got kicked out for endangering a person with his creatures.

I was not fascinated by the creatures, in fact, some of them were hideous, but others held more promising qualities such as a pick lock aka bowtruckle

At one point I wanted to walk out of the theatre, but I sat and watched while being bored to death. I did not even care for the creature who loved shiny things, the Niffler. I thought he was more of a mischief maker for stealing and thieving jewelry.
I also didn't appreciate the period. 1920's. New York. If it were in London in the 1920's I might have enjoyed it but it was boring. The bank scenes were a bit livelier than the newspaper room, but evidently, Newt got his suitcase mixed up with Jacobs. Jacob was applying for a loan to open a bakery, while Newt should've been more careful with his magical suitcase and guarded it like a hawk. Had he learned from his mistake? Apparently not.

He was careless, and when Jacob opened it and accidentally let a few of the beasts escape into the city, he hurt himself in the process. Newt did not obliviate his memories and the no-maj, human muggle, befriended them instead.

I found the two girls also annoying as fuck. Their characters rubbed me the wrong way. Queenie and her sister Tina were not very impressionable with their magic wand skills. At least that is how I felt. Tina was not very good at her job as an Auror either. She majored in being a blundering idiot. Yes, and Samantha Stevens she was not! How nice is it to be able to twitch your nose and flick your wand and let the magic do all your domestic chores for you? I cringed. I mean the only place we saw dishes washing by itself was in the Weasley household in the Burrow and in Bewitched!~ That was fun but to see it again in 1920 New York was not amusing. Big deal. It was boring up until Newt weirdly crawled into his suitcase. So then I decided to stay and watch.

Inside his luggage was a fantastic world full of odd creatures, and there, is where you will find fantastic beasts. Inside his suitcase was another world. Here, Newt studied magical beasts. We see giant insects and bugs, different looking birds, a bowtruckle named Pickett, Erumpents, Lions, and a giant Thunderbird whose name is Frank. The Thunderbird is the reason Mr. Scamander was in New York.
I do not understand what was wrong with that Mary Lou character. It seemed to me she wanted all wizards burned at stake or something like in the Salem Witch Trials. That is how medieval I perceived this movie was. Mary Lou beat her kids and was a total bitch, and I mean witch. She lobbied against wizards and witchcraft. I understood her son was a wizard. I did not warm up to that woman president Seraphina Picquery, of the wizarding world in America. The Macusa is like the ministry of magic. I did not understand who Tina was in relationship to the MACUSA either. She said she used to be an Auror? Like, Mad-eye Moody? More background about the Macusa would have been helpful, but then again I can only take so much in small doses.

Dougal is an invisible creature and Newts Demiguise. He was somewhat cute and furry. He is the last one to be recaptured. Oh but there was an Occamy snake-like creature. All these animals, Newt considered harmless :/

Meanwhile on the dark side of the force lol j/k, there is something called an Obscurus that is destroying the city. Percival Graves, played by Colin Farrel, is blaming all the destruction on the beasts but Credence Barebone is attracting this Obscurio, or HE IS the Obscurio! I wonder perhaps if it is because he was abused by Mary Lou, his adoptive mother. Credence could also be Tom Riddle's ancestor or relation somehow. IDK.

As I went to see the movie before I read the screenplay, it was hard to make sense of it all on screen as far as all the names of the beasts and what was happening in the film. As I was writing my review, the book came in the mail and I read it in one sitting. I saw it differently and I no longer hate the actors and the characters they portrayed. I found I learned a few things by reading the book.

But I read the screenplay just to get the facts straight and I Loved it!

Since I've read the book twice it made me reconsider how great the film is.
The full review is published on my blog

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