Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

I didn't see this in theaters because I have not liked Eddie Redmayne in previous works. To me, he was always a little bit too over-the-top. So I was a bit skeptical about this. Not to mention, I've frankly had enough of Harry Potter. I love it, but there is such a thing as too much. Especially when this movie was very obviously a blatant cashgrab. But after everyone telling me how good it was, I decided to at least rent it. I'm actually glad I did. I went in with my expectations low. I wasn't determined to hate it, I just thought at the most it would be OK. It was actually quite good. Not just as a Harry Potter spin-off, but just as a fantasy movie alone. And to my surprise, Eddie Redmayne was actually enjoyable. He was fun and quirky, while not being over-the-top. I'm actually nominating him as a contender to replace Peter Capaldi on "Doctor Who" when this season is done. Even if you've never seen a Harry Potter movie you'll enjoy this, since it's not really connected to the other films for the most part. Will you get more out of it if you have? Yes, but only because of small references here and there that basically say "Hey, we're in the same universe." I enjoyed the differences in the magical world culture between England and the US. In England, non-wizards are called "Muggles." In the US they're called "No-Maj's." (As in "No-Magic.") And there's a lot of school pride/rivalry between whether Hogwarts or the US equivalent Livermorny is better. Nice nod to the previous works. Apparently we're supposed to get 5 of these things, but honestly I don't see how. It works pretty well as one film, and is pretty self-contained. There's no big reveal or cliffhanger to set up the next movie. To be honest, I'm not even sure how it could continue but I'm excited to see how.

Grade: A-      9/10  4/5