Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Review)

I, like most of the known world, have been a fan of Harry Potter since I started reading it as a child. My relationships with the movie adaptations, on the other hand, have more or less been hit or miss. While I enjoy them overall, I never like how much they cut out of the books. I understand the need to fit the film into a manageable viewing time, but I always felt that certain scenes that were cut from the book were sometimes necessary to understand not only the characters but the story overall. I’ll never forgive the fact that they completely cut out the final conversation between Harry and Dumbledore at the end of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and condensed it down to a few scant lines that barely cover anything.

Still, one can’t deny the cultural impact that Harry Potter has had on a generation and with the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I was content with the journey and I moved on with my life. I guess I moved on too well because Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was released and I still haven’t read it. And to be honest, I wasn’t that excited to hear about five new movies. Perhaps in my mind, Harry Potter is over and done with so it’s hard to accept anything new.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them follows the adventures of Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), a wizard who studies and takes care of magical creatures, as he travels to New York. When he bumps into Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler), a down on his luck no-maj (muggle for the British), magical beasts from Newt’s briefcase are released and they, along with former Auror Porpentina “Tina” Goldstein (Katherine Waterson), must go through the city collecting them before the Wizarding World is exposed.

Right from the get-go, this film feels like the last four films of the Harry Potter films, due, no doubt, to David Yates’ direction. So, right from the get-go, this film feels a lot darker than the early years of Harry Potter, which makes sense because while the film still has the magic and whimsy that befits the Wizarding World, this is still the world of adults who have to deal with adult issues.

This is the source of the problem that I feel the film has. There are two distinct storylines that are running through the film. One deals with Newt and Jacob’s efforts to recapture the creatures that escaped. This is the story that is filled with wonder and joy. The other deals with Tina and Percival Graves (Colin Farrell) attempting to find a creature that wreaking havoc through New York. This is the story that is filled with some of the darkest material I’ve ever seen in the Harry Potter universe.

How can you reconcile a fun and upbeat story about capturing unique and fantastical creatures with a story of witch-hunts and child abuse? Plus, this new series has to introduce a completely new side of the Wizarding World (the culture of the Wizarding World in America), so the beginning of the movie meanders around, making Newt’s storyline feel unimportant in the face of the true story, of an invisible beast of rage killing and destroying New York. And in the middle of it all, there’s Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller), an adopted son of a witch-hunter who is frequently beaten with a belt.

Speaking of which, there are several actors who simply excel as their characters. Dan Fogler is simply delightful as Jacob, allowing us to see a no-maj viewing magic for the first time with the same love that us fans had when we first saw it. Ezra Miller draws so much sympathy for his struggle. Even Colin Farrell is interesting if only to see a view of magic that isn’t really expressed, the view that the law hurts more people than it helps.

Even with these wonderful characters, though, it can’t help the fact that the film just feels like events transpire only to set up events in the sequels because films today aren’t interested in being good films, they’re interested in setting up franchises. How one character’s arc ends was extremely bold and surprised me (I always love it when films surprise me), but it also left me wondering what the point of it was? It didn’t make sense in this film but I have the feeling that it will make sense in the next films.

Having said all of that, I want to see what happens in the next films. Maybe it’s the magic of Harry Potter but even with all the problems I see in the film, I still want to see where this series takes me. I probably enjoyed it much more than the original movies, which is probably because this isn’t based on a book and there was nothing cut out of it that I felt shouldn’t have been cut. In the end, it is a fun film to watch, and despite all the problems I found with it, I still enjoyed my time visiting the Wizarding World again. And I believe this will probably be the film that makes me finally read Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Trolls (Review)

Where do I even begin with this film?

Trolls are about the Trolls, those toys that you had as kids with small bodies but long hair, who live in the forest singing, dancing, making scrapbook and generally being happy all the time. They have a predator, a race called the Bergens, who can only be happy by eating Trolls. When Princess Poppy (Anna Kendrick), throws a loud party, it draws the town to the attention of the bergen, Chef (Christine Baranski), who kidnaps Poppy’s friends. She forces Branch (Justin Timberlake), an unhappy and sarcastic troll, to accompany her as they go off to rescue their friends.

To say that I was confused throughout the whole movie is an understatement. Nothing in this world makes sense. It’s all topsy-turvy with strange animals and even stranger settings. It almost looks like a world straight from a Dr. Seuss book. I have to say, though, that I found myself ignoring the strangeness and just going along for the ride. It has a charm which is probably due to their awareness that this is all crazy. They know how insane this is, but just go with it.

While I can enjoy the movie and the music, I worry that the music will eventually become dated. Every song seems to be a rehashed version of a Top 40 song which just makes it easier to date. The songs are catchy though and serve a purpose of moving the emotional plot along.

The animation is interesting in its own right. Everything about the world, from the trees to the animals, are designed to look like they’re made out of scrapbook felt and paper. If anything, this whole thing was designed to look like it was a book made by a child (which, even the craziness of the world, it probably was).

The characters are your typical kids movie stereotypes. Anna Kendrick is the happy go lucky one while Justin Timberlake is the sourpuss and they have to work together to do the right thing. This whole film does have the feeling of a corporate paint by numbers movie.

Still, I found myself enjoying it, even though the movie is predictable. The songs are catchy, the visuals are ridiculously bizarre and the characters are funny. The best analogy I can think of is that this movie is like cotton candy: it’s sweet, fluffy and colorful with not much substance, but if you can enjoy it for what it is, then it’s a good time.

Arrival (Review)

Twelve alien spacecrafts appear all across the world. With no way to communicate with them, the military hires top linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) to find a way to communicate with them and to discover the answer to the big question: why are they here?

Right from the beginning, you know the movie isn’t going to be about the aliens. It’s going to be about Amy Adams’ relationship with her daughter, who died at a young age due to cancer. This event seems to permeate throughout Adams’ world, making everything a subdued gray. This is no doubt thanks to the awesome cinematography of Denis Villeneuve, who directs every shot with such intensity that I found myself awed by the framing of every shot.

Amy Adams subdued performance steals the show where she proves once and for all that yes, she is a better actress than Batman v. Superman made her out to be. There’s a subtlety that runs throughout the whole movie that just makes sure that the audience is invested, even when all she’s doing is looking up at the towering ships in awe. From frame one, we are with Adams. Everything that happens and everything that we see only happens because Adams is there to see it. This is truly a movie with only one point of view and that is our heroine.

A movie that springs to mind is Interstellar except it is by far not as flashy. Not only are the stakes just as big but the emotional impact is gut wrenching. There is a spirituality that permeates throughout the film that I can’t really go into detail about for fear of spoiling the movie.

I almost don’t want to say anything more for fear of ruining the movie for people who want to see it. It’s one of those movies where the less you know about it the better. What I can say is that I guarantee that we will be seeing this film at the Oscars or on people’s Top 10 lists of the year. If you love science fiction, go see this movie. If you love movies that stick with you well past when you’ve driven out of the parking lot, go see this movie. For me, this was probably the most important film of the year.

The Accountant (Review)

The Accountant is an action-thriller that is honestly hard to describe. It’s not a movie that’s about a plot or story but is more about introducing this character of Christian Wolff, an autistic accountant who was trained by his military father to defend himself with any and all means necessary. That means martial arts and gunplay, making him one of the deadliest people on the planet.

One thing that surprised me about the movie was how much time they spent explaining what autism is. The movie also seems to serve as a way to explain autism to the masses and then hiding the public service under an action-thriller movie starring Ben Affleck in a rare role where he proves that he does have the ability to act. Up until this point I had assumed that he was a better director than he was an actor but he actually does a pretty good job in this movie. As to whether or not his portrayal is an accurate representation of autism, I’m not the person to ask.

One interesting side story is JK Simmons and Cynthia Addai-Robinson, who are members of the Financial Crimes for the Treasury. They are the ones who are trying to discover Wolff but they’re not really the main threat that Wolff has to deal with. In fact, they never really interact with each other throughout the movie.

The one way that I would describe this movie is that a lot of the plot lines are scattered around. It’s trying to be several things at once and it almost suffers. Even JK Simmons’ story towards the end of the movie is all over the place. Anna Kendrick is there in the movie but she’s barely a footnote, simply being the token damsel in distress.

That said, the action is solid and fun and the story has twists and turns that kept me invested throughout. I’m simply not surprised that the movie felt a little longer than it probably should have been.

Doctor Strange (Review)

Doctor Strange tells the origin story of the titular Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), a famous neurosurgeon who loses the use of his hands in a car accident. In his desperation, he seeks the help of a group of mystics and sorcerers led by the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton). As he learns the mystic arts, he must battle with Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen), a rogue sorcerer who is trying to find a way to bring eternal life to the people.

There was a lot of controversy around the film regarding the casting of Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One and the stereotypical tropes that Doctor Strange relies on (the exotic East as a source of mysterious power). People who know me know that I was pretty upset by these things but what they probably don’t know is the reason why I was upset. It wasn’t because I thought the movie would be terrible before I’ve even seen it and that nobody should enjoy this movie because of these reasons. Its because it’s a problem that somehow still continues to exist in the movie industry today. Hollywood would always rather hire a white actor over an asian actor because they sell. The common audience don’t often go to Asian countries to see what it’s actually like there, so they don’t ask questions when these stereotypes crop up again and again. If it seems like I’m targeting this film in particular, it’s simply because it’s the most recent example of these problems.

Did any of these problems stop me from enjoying this movie? Hell no.

The movie reminds me a lot of the original Iron Man movie with it’s smaller, simpler narrative. Dr. Strange also reminds me a lot of Tony Stark, though, regrettably, Benedict Cumberbatch doesn’t quite have the same charisma that Robert Downey Jr. does. Benedict Cumberbatch is a brilliant actor, though, and he does his job as Dr. Strange incredibly well. In fact, this entire cast of characters was surprisingly well put together. Tilda Swinton plays the part of the Ancient One with grace and poise but also with ferocity, making her one of my favorite characters in the movie. Chiwetel Ejiofor is both charismatic and harsh as Mordo, Strange’s ally in arms. Even Mads Mikkelsen as Kaecilius garners some sympathy, but only in the one scene he gets to be sympathetic, which continues the trend of Marvel villains being boring.

The only actress to really get the short end of the stick is Rachel McAdams, who is relegated to being the token girlfriend. Even though she has her own life and is an accomplished nurse, her whole role in the movie is to be the representation of Strange’s former life. Maybe I’m being too harsh because, to be fair, they used to be lovers but they broke up after the accident, which makes her more of the token friend. Still, I hope that if they plan to use her again in the future, that they actually give her more to do than patch up Strange.

The main issue with the film is that it relies on so many tropes that this movie feels more like a paint by numbers Marvel movie. The only part that was different is in how Strange deals with the issues. He might very well be the only one in the entire MCU whose first instinct isn’t to fight or kill anyone. As a doctor, he’s tasked with saving lives, not taking them and it was nice to see him solve problems through bargaining rather than killing.

I’ve listed numerous problems the film has but I still enjoyed the movie. People seem to forget that you can both enjoy a movie immensely and still be aware of the problematic things that exist within it and by contrast to other movies, the problems in this movie are small in comparison. Tilda Swinton is fantastic and ended up being my favorite character. All in all, it’s a fun movie with some of the trippiest visuals I’ve ever seen.

Kubo and the Two Strings (Review)

If you must blink, do it now.

These are the words that started the movie and I have to say, I honestly cannot remember if I blinked. I do remember doing my best to keep my eyes open so I didn’t miss a thing. From the first frame, I was instantly engrossed in this epic of a story, unlike anything I had ever seen. And yet today, I can say that thinking back, I still missed some key details that almost certainly require a second viewing.

Set in Ancient Japan, the film tells the tale of Kubo (Art Parkinson), a one-eyed boy who makes a living as a storyteller, bringing origami figures to life to enact the tales and exploits of his samurai father, Hanzo. Every night, he must return home to his mentally handicapped mother before the moon rises or else his mother and grandfather will find him and take his other eye. One night, however, he stays out too late and is forced to run away and find his father’s old armor, as it is the only thing that will protect him. He is accompanied on his quest by Monkey (Charlize Theron), a stoic and harsh wooden charm brought to life by his mother and Beetle (Matthew McConaughey), an amnesiac samurai cursed to take the form of a beetle.

Right from the beginning the movie is not about a quest to find a father’s old armor. It’s about a young boy’s quest to discover who his parents are and about family and that is evident from the very first scene. A mother caught in a storm at sea, capsized and cracking her skull on a rock and crawling desperately to protect her crying baby is an image that I was not prepared to witness at the beginning of a kids movie. There are some very intense moments in this film that made me wonder if this movie should really be rated PG.

Then again, I’m not a kid anymore and I should remember that kids can handle quite a bit. I remember as a kid watching a chinese cartoon where a child slits his own throat in order to save his father’s kingdom from 4 dragons. As a kid, I didn’t understand that he was committing suicide. I understood that he was sacrificing himself to save the kingdom (by the way, the movie in question is called Prince Nezha’s Triumph Against Dragon King).

Movies have a unique way of transporting us to another world and Kubo and the Two Strings is no exception. It is a world steeped in Japanese fairy tale, mythology and folklore. It is rare to find an American movie that is based in a different country’s culture and it is also refreshing to find a movie that is so unique. The only complaint I have about the film would be the ending which seems more like the ending to an American fairy tale over an ending an Asian fairy tale would have.

Ultimately, the movie is about the journey and probably more about beginnings. It’s touching, its intense, its funny and its everything I ever wanted from a movie.

Jason Bourne (Review)

The fifth film in the Bourne film series, Jason Bourne is a direct sequel to The Bourne Ultimatum, completely skipping over The Bourne Legacy (a fact that I am quite thankful for). It follows the story of the titular black ops agent Jason Bourne as he uncovers yet more information of his past as he tries to come to terms with who he is and the things he has done.

I’ve always enjoyed the Bourne films. The plot of each film was always engaging, with each moment having me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next. So I was saddened to see the latest Jason Bourne film and just not care about anything that was happening.

Don’t get me wrong. The filmmaking is impeccable. Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon have never been better in their fourth collaboration with each other. Paul Greengrass has always been a unique director in Hollywood because of how documentary-like his films are. It did always make watching the action sequences a challenge because of how shaky the cameras were. Just a wee bit of motion sickness to go along with your action packed movie. No biggie.

The other stand-out performance in the movie is Alicia Vikander, who plays the head of the CIA Cyber Ops division. As the movie kept going, I took a shine to her and her indomitable will to advance her career no matter what. Indeed, her character was the only one that I actually found interesting and wanted to see what happened next in her arc.

Having said that, not even Paul Greengrass’ directing and editing style, Matt Damon’s action role and Alicia Vikander’s badassness can hide the fact this movie is completely pointless. I don’t mean pointless as in “just another dumb action movie” pointless. I mean “there was no reason for this movie to be made” pointless.

As I watched the movie, I just didn’t feel as invested in the movie as I had in previous films. Everything about it just felt like a paint by numbers piece. Government conspiracy? Check. A reason for Jason Bourne to return to the States? Check. An action-packed sequence with Matt Damon fighting another operative? Check. Jason Bourne getting away from his pursuers in a crowd of people? Check.

None of the new revelations in the film seemed to add anything. As I watched each new piece of information being revealed about Jason Bourne’s life, I found myself thinking back to how I reacted to the revelation of how the White Walkers were created in Game of Thrones. I realized that I had the exact same reaction: I didn’t need to know any of that. None of that changed how I feel about the character or the wider story told in the series. It’s just another reason to get the movie going. The film even tries to add in some Post-9/11 themes of “safety vs. privacy” just to make it interesting. Suffice it to say, it was not subtle about it and it came and went without even a backward glance.

That’s what it boils down to in the end. The film is trying desperately to justify another film but in the end, the reasons just aren’t worth it, and the film suffers because of it. In the end, I was watching this Jason Bourne movie and I was absolutely bored. Even Tommy Lee Jones seemed bored with the film, though that could just be his acting style.

I feel that the Jason Bourne series is done. His journey was complete at the end of The Bourne Ultimatum. I look back on The Bourne Legacy and think to myself “at least that movie was doing something different, even if it didn’t follow through with it.” If you’re looking for a Matt Damon action movie, then you could do a lot worse. If you’re looking for a substantial, meaningful and worthy addition to the Bourne series, then you should just rewatch the original trilogy and forget this one exists.

Star Trek: Beyond (Film Review)

Star Trek: Beyond, directed by Justin Lin (Fast Five), is the third movie in the rebooted Star Trek movie series. In it, the crew of the Enterprise (with Chris Pine as Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, Karl Urban as Bones, Zoe Saldana as Uhura, John Cho as Sulu, Simon Pegg as Scottie, and Anton Yelchin as Chekov (R.I.P)) is shot down on a remote planet and must survive together in order to combat a new alien threat.

Surprisingly, that’s not all the movie’s about. Kirk has become disillusioned after three years in deep space and wonders if he should continue being the captain of the Enterprise. Spock has received news that Ambassador Spock as died (R.I.P. Leonard Nimoy) and wonders at his own future at Star Fleet. The common theme is that the crew is beginning to wonder about their own future. Not only does this help round out the characters (by actually letting them be characters with their own wants and dreams), but I couldn’t help but feel that this feeling might be directed at the franchise as a whole.

I’ve always felt the Star Trek Reboot series (or maybe its the Alternate Star Trek series?) has always suffered from identity issues. Star Trek Into Darkness has always felt like a Star Wars movie and not a Star Trek movie. I can understand that when adapting a long-running TV show to a movie, things can get lost in the process. Star Trek is definitely more cerebral, with a more moralizing approach to the story and characters. This works fine for a TV show when you have the time to do that, but for a movie, time is limited. That said, I feel like Star Trek: Beyond is the first movie in the franchise that actually feels like a Star Trek movie.

The focus is entirely on the crew of the enterprise, making this the first movie in the series that features an ensemble cast. Whereas in previous movies where the main focus has been on Kirk and Spock, this time every character has a chance to shine and is integral to the story. You get to see how different members of the crew interact with each other when in previous iterations, they’ve never really shared much screen time. It’s a refreshing take and one that works for the best.

All of this wouldn’t even be possible without the direction of Justin Lin, who I had originally had doubts about. With a track record that mainly seemed to comprise mainly of the Fast and the Furious franchise (I’ve only seen the first one so I’m not going to make any comment on if they’re any good or not), it didn’t seem like he would be able to tackle franchise that is more…subtle than a movie about cars. Fortunately, I was wrong and was pleased to see that Justin Lin didn’t just copy J.J. Abrams. The imagery is simply astounding and definitely one of highlights of the movie.

All of this leads back to what I said before about questioning the future. It always seemed to me that Star Trek has had an identity crisis. Star Trek Into Darkness was basically just a rehash of Wrath of Kahn with 9/11 undertones. And now, Star Trek: Beyond asks where do we go from here? What else is there? Showing that they have fully stepped away from the previous generations of films and created a story that can stand on its own as one of the best basically says, we are now moving forward and leaving the past behind them. This is the main reason why I feel like this film is the first one that feels like how a Star Trek movie should be. Maybe I was looking too deeply into it but I can’t deny what I saw and felt while watching it. And what I saw was a great ride from start to finish.

Ghostbusters (Film Review)

Ghostbusters, directed by Paul Feig and starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones and Chris Hemsworth, is a reboot of the classic franchise of the same name. It features four women who through a series of events, open a business catching ghosts. And that’s pretty much it.

For a film that inspired so much controversy and hate (the trailer was one of the most disliked videos on youtube), there was nothing in the film itself that I felt was absolutely wrong. Nothing in this film seemed to justify the hate surrounding it. Sure, the film is by no means perfect, but it was relatively harmless when compared to other complete travesties.

For all the hate surrounding the fact that the movie stars four women, I was actually watching the movie not for the ghost-busting, but for these women. I liked watching their antics and found myself laughing. Which is what a comedy is supposed to do. I was also surprised that there was no moment in the film where the women are forced to fall apart through the actions of one of the group or an outside force. Everytime they’re knocked down, they just keep going, which I found refreshing.

The special effects are by far the least attractive part of the film. Nothing can beat the practical effects of the original. The overall designs of the ghost were interesting but as I watched, I knew it was nothing more than computer magic.

But despite that, the four leading ladies carry the movie, including Kate McKinnon, who I felt was the surprise star of the film. She’s crazy and fearless and everything that I can enjoy in a character.

What this movie is is harmless. Nothing about this film deserves the hatred aimed at it. Sure, it’s not the greatest movie in the world. The plot is pretty predictable and safe. The movie is simply fun and I would recommend it to anyone who has an evening to kill.

WarCraft (Film Review)

Directed by Duncan Jones and based on the bestselling video game series from Blizzard Entertainment, WarCraft is the action fantasy movie that tells the story of the beginning of the war between the Humans of Azeroth and the Orcish Horde. It stars Travis Fimmel, Ben Foster, Dominic Cooper and Ben Schnetzer as members of the humans and Toby Kebbell, Robert Kazinsky, and Daniel Wu as members of the Orcs with Paula Patton playing the half-human, half-orc outcast.

This is…an interesting movie to say the least. I have long been a fan of Blizzard Entertainment, though I have to say StarCraft’s sci-fi setting appealed to me more. I didn’t even play WarCraft III until I got to college. So, suffice it to say, I had absolutely no idea of the story I was getting into when I went to see WarCraft, since the movie is based around the events of the first WarCraft game that was released back in 1994. Or at least, the time period of the events take place in the first WarCraft game, while the actual events have been expanded upon in the multitudes of books and World of WarCraft expansions that have since been released.

I have to say, to this film’s credit, it was by far the most unique movie I’ve seen in a while. It could have been easy to just be a dumb action movie, but more time is actually spent on the characters involved and their motivations. Well, at least on the Orc side. The humans are just kind of…around. I’m not sure what it is, but the Orcs’ story was just more interesting than the Humans. You have Travis Fimmel playing Anduin Lothar, a commander of Azeroth’s armies, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out what he’s doing. Is he drunk 24/7? He might be trying to be a witty and snarky character but it’s hard to understand him with him doing his Ragnar Lothbrok thing.

That said, there were humans that I ended up rooting for. Ben Schnetzer plays a mage in training by the name of Khadgar who at first, I thought I would hate (with his wide eyes and pretty face), but as the show went one, he slowly became something of an interesting character. Annoying but somewhat lovable.

It just seems like more time was spent working on the characterization and story of the Orcs than there was with the humans. Everything about the Orcs I just enjoyed, from the characters to the story. Toby Kebbell really shines as Durotan, an orc who is unsure of the warlock who now leads the horde. At his core, he wants nothing more than to protect his family, even if it means betraying his kind.

The most interesting inclusion to the story is Paula Patton as Garona, a half-orc, half-human woman who grew up as a slave among the orcs. Sadly, she is underused in my opinion and seems only to be there to provide a baffling love interest for Lothat because reasons.

This is a movie that is less focused on the visuals and the pretty special effects and more focused on the characters, and because of this, the world-building suffers a little. We’re given pretty shots of locations that seem more catered to the hardcore WarCraft fans but we’re never given any sort of explanation about what these places are and why they’re important. For example, I know from the games that Dalaran is a city-state run by the Kirin-Tor mages, but nowhere in the movie is that really mentioned. Nor is it mentioned that Stormwind is the capital city of the human empire. I’m just saying an explanation of the world we’re supposed to be watching for the next 2 hours would be nice.

For all its faults, this movie does have heart. I found myself invested in the movie even though everything about would make it seem like a bad movie. As for myself, I have seen truly awful movies and WarCraft is not one of those. It is a movie with flaws but it tries. Sometimes it succeeds and sometimes if fails. In the end, it is something different and I can never fault it for that. Which is why it is probably one of my favorite movies based on a video game, if not my favorite.

Tim Lilly

Film Aficionado, Gamer, Book Lover

Category: Film Review