"Fantastic Beasts" is Fantastically Average
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) I, like many other twenty-somethings who were raised on a steady diet of Harry Potter books and films, was absolutely ecstatic when the a new movie taking place within the Harry Potter universe was announced. Unfortunately, high hopes often lead to great disappointment, and while Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is certainly a solid film, it failed to live up to the high expectations set by the Harry Potter franchise preceding it. Fantastic Beasts opens with a promising premise, involving a mysterious and lovable new protagonist who's left racing through New York City to gather the magical creatures he accidentally set loose, but quickly falls apart when it struggles to offer anything else. Characters are rarely developed beyond the archetypical roles they must fulfill in order for the plot to move forward, and plot beats are hit like dominos aligned in a straight line. The film simply offers little to no unexpec...