Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

I saw that this film had received a surprisingly mixed bag of reviews. I had thought the Harry Potter fans would ensure 5 * all round. And those hoping for another Harry Potter may be disappointed.Now although I do like J K Rowling's work - I think she's a clever and inventive writer, I much prefer the style of Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones etc. so I wasnt at all sure how much, or if at all, I would like this film.Well I did like it, very much indeed in fact. I found it laugh out loud funny in places and surprisingly dark, violent and scary (for kids) in others. Rather like a Harry Potter episode, only somehow with a bit more attitude. It gallops along at a fair old pace and the cgi work in my inexpert opinion was damn good. The cast were well chosen and the quality of performances on the whole very good. For children to watch? - not for the very young I think, as it is not all about cute furry animals running around. It is very J K Rowling - with death, destruction and violence all over the place, and strong (if somewhat simply portayed) themes on the value of tolerance of others and the vicious and harmful effect of blind, prejudicial hatred towards those who are 'different' and, yes, the power of love! Nothing wrong in that I think.The weird and wonderful beasts are just that and they are, along with the special 'magic' effects, mostly the stars of the show. I suspect many a cry of "can I have one?" will be heard. They'll just have to wait for the merchandising to appear (if it hasnt already).However as a lover of fantasy work and a big kid myself, I thoroughly enjoyed it which is why I gave it 5 brownie points. Recommended along with parental guidance proviso.

A great film enhanced by 3D, probably better than the sequel.

I was never a huge fan of the Harry Potter books and movies, although I appreciated the movies further into the series. In particular when we watched them again recently in sequence during family movie evenings.The Fantastic Beast was a feast however to me and my family. Really nice to meet a new set of characters in a slightly different setting with ties to the original material.Our kids thoroughly enjoyed the movie with it's many funny moments.Enjoyable journey that follows the introvert Newt Scamander through gothic New York during the jazz-age in a visually stunning spectacle, with a recognizable soundtrack. It's great that the story liberated itself from Hogwart's that started to feel increasingly tired.I'm sure there could be complains about the story line or how this movie clashes with the Potter canon, but we had a great evening of high quality entertainment with the family.We buy 3D Blu Ray’s where possible. You pay up for it but they enhance a great family-film evening. Fantastic Beasts in 3D looks very sharp and natural on our fairly high-end Oled LG TV, that gets supported by proper surround sound. I must say I tend to like 3D viewing more at home than in cinema’s these days. And this movie in 3D is particularly well-done; all looks very pleasant and natural to watch without excessive blast and parts flying towards your face.The set also includes a digital copy. Nice in a sense. But I get very frustrated by the fact that I now have to run 4 different apps from movie studios each filled with their own digital copy format; iTunes, Flixster/Ultraviolet, Googleplay ect. And so far there is no proper way to integrate my collections of digital copies. Moreover, most will require wifi, which is not always available when travelling. Until this is being addressed these digital copies remain a half-baked freebie in support of self-copies.

I watched this via Amazon Prime paying for the HD version, great picture and sound quality with no pauses during streaming whatsoever.I won't go into details of the film as I think that would spoil it if you haven't already seen snippets but I will say that I felt this was suitably similar to the Harry Potter films yet different enough to make it part of it's own franchise - so you kind of feel quite comfortable in watching it. It does have an element of building up the new character before getting into the full swing of things but I think that's to be expected. The CGI is quite brilliant, not overly done in my opinion and does blend in well with the movie.All in all it's a good saturday night movie!If you have found this review helpful, please let me know by hitting the “helpful” button! or if you have any questions then feel free to ask :)

Quirky characters, well acted, great visuals and interesting creatures!!!!I was glued to the screen when watching this and this is the perfect film to watch on Blu-ray through a decent surround sound system.With great acting throughout and characters that are easily to invest in ( good or bad ).As for the special effects then these are beautiful and well put together from practical to CG. I hate it when you are taken out of a film when there is that green screen feeling and this is kept to a minimal here with only a couple of scenes ( one actually adds to the film to give it an intended off-worldly feel ).One negative I had was near the end ( no spoilers ) the action felt a little rushed and the magic used seemed to fluctuate ( a bit like in star wars where a Jedi has the ability to force push but never uses it to get out of a sticky situation ).I was a big harry potter fan when growing up and appreciated them as a film buff later on in life but the troubled child/teen thing does run its course watching as an adult and I'm happy to say that there is none of that here.I am now invested in the franchise again and can't wait to see the following movies.