I still don’t know how I feel about the whole attempted FANTASTIC BEASTS franchise. On the one hand, I liked a lot about it.
Dan Fogler was a joy, seeing the way Americans dealt with wizards was interesting, and the scene at a magical speakeasy with goblin Ron Perlman was great! However, the film couldn’t decide on a coherent tone, with the two different storylines (Newt Scamander looking for lost beasts in New York vs. the whole business with wizard-Hitler) never fully meshing. Not only that, but the female lead was too weak/unmemorable (and don’t get me started on the Johnny Depp reveal…) I can’t say it was a bad movie by any stretch, but I also can’t deny that it was ultimately a disappointment.
Hopefully the upcoming sequel (of five) will take to heart the missteps of the first one, as well as beef up what worked (more Fogler and magic noir!) In any case, here’s a pic from Instagram showing where Scamander’s life has been since the first one. Take a look:
Seems he’s touring his famous book. I wonder how much credit he’ll give to everyone who helped him in the first one? If at all?
Meanwhile, FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM 2 will be summoned into theaters November 16th, 2018.