Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - Seen it thread

[ISiddiqui]

I don’t think that everything British has or is channeling Doctor Who…

[susan]

I enjoyed it. I liked that there was no book–to my mind, that means Rowling et al. need to be sure the film has reasonable coherence in and of itself.

Why did the curvy blonde witch like the fat guy?

Because some people like other people whether or not they’re fat?

[RealityChuck]

@Dewey_Finn

Did anyone else find it odd how Graves interacted with Creedence? It was almost predatory.

Slate had an article discussing what’s really going on. The analysis makes certain lines suddenly stand out.

[Dewey_Finn]

Thanks for linking to that. I’m curious how far they’ll go with this in future films, given that this is a very big-budget franchise.

[muldoonthief]

@Dewey_Finn

Thanks for linking to that. I’m curious how far they’ll go with this in future films, given that this is a very big-budget franchise.

It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if J.K.'s contract gives her full final editorial control over the movies, with enormous penalties if the studios try to pull out. She had a ton of control over the original Potter movies starting right with the first one, long before they pulled in nearly $8 billion worldwide.

[Acsenray]

Saw it a couple of days ago. I didn’t know anything about the story in advance but was pleasantly surprised.

[Acsenray]

@pieceoftheuniverse

So, wizards that don’t get trained in magic or a magic-friendly environment by age 10 die, and before then manifest an obscurus. But Harry Potter was eleven when he was admitted into Hogwarts. Before that, he did some accidental magic here and there, but nothing on obscuras level. So … is there a cure developed later? Some kind of blessing bestowed upon all children three generations later?

No, it’s not just any untrained young wizard—it’s young magical people who harshly repress their magic for fear of being persecuted.

[levdrakon]

@Acsenray

No, it’s not just any untrained young wizard—it’s young magical people who harshly repress their magic for fear of being persecuted.

And it’s only sometimes.

[Leaper]

Is it true that the movie portrayed Harlem in the '20s with way fewer black people than you’d expect? If so, why not just set it in another area if they didn’t want to cast non whites?

[Skywatcher]

@Leaper

Is it true that the movie portrayed Harlem in the '20s with way fewer black people than you’d expect?

From TV Tropes:

Confirmed Real Life locations* so far include Central Park (and the Zoo), the City Hall Subway Station, the Diamond District and the Woolworth Building. American characters also have accurate addresses—the Goldstein sisters live on West 24th Street in Chelsea, while Jacob Kowalski is a native Brooklynite living in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, which at that time was a notoriously poor area for immigrant families.

*Though much like King Kong (2005), everything was shot on a backlot due to the huge geographical differences between past and present New York.

I’m pretty sure nothing north of 65th was seen.

[Elendil_s_Heir]

@Dewey_Finn

I saw it on Friday night and was underwhelmed. I was trying to figure out why. Perhaps it’s because the Harry Potter films had an overall story arc (and each followed an academic year), so we knew where we were going. Also, when I first heard about the movie, I expected a travelogue in which he finds and captures or befriends the various creatures. This thing was crazy intense, and not as family-friendly as I’d expect (not that I care, as I saw it alone).

This was pretty much my reaction. Glad I saw it, and as a longtime HP fan I’m sure I’ll see the next four in the series, but it just wasn’t as good as I’d hoped.

@Inner_Stickler

Ooh, also, can I just say that the american wizarding version of the death penalty is macabre as all get out and not the method I would think a government on the up and up would be doing?

Agreed. The blissed-out, smiling executioners were esp. creepy.

@Dewey_Finn

…I did like the depiction of 1926 New York, especially the Woolworth Building.

Likewise. I almost expected to see them bump into King Kong along the way (speaking of unnatural beasts wreaking havoc in the Big Apple).

@GuanoLad

…I am also hoping Dumbledore will be played by Jared Harris, who not only is Richard Harris’s son but also looks a bit like young Michael Gambon, and more importantly is a very wizardy looking actor.

Not a bad idea, but it’s gonna be Jude Law: Jude Law cast as Albus Dumbledore in next Fantastic Beasts film | Wizarding World

@levdrakon

…Newt Scamander irritated me during the first part of the movie. Say something! He just kind of stood there looking dumb and not answering questions that could easily have cleared some things up. Similarly, Porpentina just stood there and got arrested for not informing the Mag Congress about Scamander, WHEN SHE DID TRY TO TELL THEM! Arg…

Yeah, I had the same reaction. Having the entire city rebuilt by some Auror wand-waving and everyone Obliviated by rain at the end was also a severe test of my suspension of disbelief.

@TruCelt

…I loved Redmayne in the role. He seemed like exactly the sort of guy who would become obsessed with animals and spend his life searching the back reaches of the world trying to save them. Gentle heart, small and wiry, not quite comfortable with full human interaction . . .he was great!

Also agreed. I liked him in The Theory of Everything, and his shy, waifish charm seemed just right for Newt.

@RealityChuck

Slate had an article discussing what’s really going on. The analysis makes certain lines suddenly stand out.

Thanks for this - quite interesting. I wish Rowling had had the courage of her convictions to have had Dumbledore be gay all along, so it was Potterverse canon, rather than mentioning it almost as an afterthought once the last book was published. Having both Grindelwald and Dumbledore be gay, a villain and a hero, would be a bold move for such a high-profile franchise, as Dewey Finn wrote.

[Crane]

Went to sleep after about ten minutes and woke up in time for the cute twist at the end.

Great stuff for HP fans.