Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

"You're an interesting man, Mr. Scamander. Just like your suitcase, I think there's more to you than meets the eye."

Fantastic Beasts is set 70 years before Harry Potter’s story and stars Eddie Redmayne as famous British Magizoologist and eventual author: Newt Scamander. The story begins with Newt travelling to New York with a suitcase full of fantastic beasts and wacky Harry Potter-esc hijinks ensues.

I would call myself a fan of Harry Potter. I enjoy the films to varying degrees with them being more of a nostalgia trip for me than being on any kind of favourites list. The books though, all incredibly solid. Not going to lie I was nervous at the very idea of this new trilogy (as it was originally announced to be). I knew it wasn’t going to be long after the Harry Potter series ended we would see Warner Bros. knocking on JK’s door holding a big sack of money asking her to write or for permission to write a brand new series of films. Especially with Warner Bros. in a current state of confusion and uncertainty. You must remember that Harry Potter ended very soon after Christopher Nolan finished his Dark Knight Trilogy, Warner Bros. had to do something.

While watching I found myself being dazzled and excited within the first ten to twenty minutes and I decided I wasn’t going to give the film a pass purely because it did an excellent job of sweeping me back into this universe. I'd put this down to to David Yate's direction, as much as it was a very safe bet having him return to direct its payed off in terms of his visual style being very reminiscent of the his other films.

While yes you do feel like you’re back in this world I didn’t find many of the characters particularly engrossing or fascinating. In Harry Potter the film was set in the Wizarding World with the Muggle World being sidelined totally, obviously this is what we want. I wouldn’t say it’s the complete opposite here but I can say the film spends way too long on New York Muggle politics.

Eddie Redmayne whom I’ve never found amazingly compelling as an actor was great as this bumbling bloke from England. There wasn’t a lot of ‘fish out of water’ type humour as I thought there would be from his character and I appreciated that. He was an interesting character to follow through the story and I liked that, Dave Fogler served as the "audience's eyes" character and surprisingly it didn’t irritate me entirely, his and Redmayne’s characters were definitely my favourite parts of the film, particularly shining in one scene inside the briefcase, which I would have liked to have been elaborated on more. Everyone else in the film I would call serviceable, many great actors felt wasted.

Its probably the thick and tone shifting plot that dragged the film down for me. The film’s called Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, to be honest I think would have preferred a film with Newt going on a wacky adventure to capture some magical creatures. Yes we do get some of that in this film but much of it is side lined by American Magical Politics, American Muggle Politics and Colin Farrell’s character’s convoluted plan. All these things didn’t always mesh particularly well and it’s a shame.

The thing that more or less pushed me over the edge concerning the film would probably considered a spoiler so heres your warning.

Someone has a cameo at the end and it serves the story in no way and felt totally out of place. Depp's performance and look did not match the rest of the film aesthetically. Before it happened (as Graves was captured) I genuinely thought to myself “ok whats the dumbest thing they could do here” and giving us an apparent twist with Graves turning out to be Grindelwald was it. I honestly have no idea why they did it, I feel like Graves should have simply been a follower of Grindelwald.

Actually to be honest I wouldn’t have had a problem with it if it wasn’t Johnny Depp, his face was just too well known and he totally took me out of the film as he always does. I don’t want to see four Johnny Depp Fantastic Beasts films. Warner Bros. couldn’t control Jared Leto as the Joker I have no doubt they won’t be able to control Depp.

To conclude though if you're looking for a fun and exciting film set in a fantasy world this film will probably satisfy you. If you're a Harry Potter purist it would grind you in places and if you're indifferent towards the whole Harry Potter thing this isn't the film that's going to change your mind.

If you enjoyed this written review and would like to hear more from me (quite literally) I do a weekly podcast where I talk films/TV with another guy who also talks film/TV.
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Remus Lupin and the Tale of Dropping Obvious Hints

Many would argue that Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the best film of the Harry Potter series, myself included. It worked so well due to its darker tone and beautiful direction and cinematography. It recognised that its characters were growing and the story itself was maturing into a darker tale. Alfonso Cuaron did a masterful job of acknowledging this. However something in the film has always bothered me so here we go. Spoilers ahead!

We are introduced to the scar faced Remus Lupin, a character we later learn is a werewolf. We see what he fears most during the Boggart scene in the form of a full moon. There are constant werewolf references in Snape’s Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson. Having watched it again I found these hints almost insultingly blatant.

In the book Remus explains that the Whomping Willow was planted the same year he arrived at Hogwarts. It doesn’t go into detail only that a young boy was nearly blinded by it, after which all students were forbidden to go near it. Later on his Boggart is described only as ‘a silvery orb hanging in the air’ one of Harry’s classmates even suggests that it could be a crystal ball. It’s very subtly described and you’re left wondering why this is his biggest fear. Werewolves and Lupin’s tendency to be ill once a month is also referenced throughout but never in great detail.

Cinematically it is difficult to drop hints like this as we are only given visuals. I’ll reference The Sixth Sense here when explaining that when setting up a film’s twist you should work smarter not harder. Place your character in a situation that very subtly suggests to the audience that something is being hidden from them. In The Sixth Sense Bruce Willis’ character has dinner with his wife and she appears to not to be listening to him. The subtly made the film infinitely more watchable, as next time you view this scene from a totally different perspective.

Plot twists are Shyamalan’s biggest curse because he seems to have forgotten how to execute them. Cuaron is no Shyamalan by any stretch but the best Harry Potter film would have been that much more enjoyable had he lightly applied these hints so the film’s eventual payoff is that much more satisfying.

Thanks for reading guys I hope you share my thoughts on this. Yeah this blog was a bit pointless but I thought it was just interesting to talk about plot twists today.

If you liked this blog you’ll probably (definitely) LOVE my new podcast Blanketbros, where we talk films, TV and news relating to those two broad and daunting things!

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Paper Towns & Straight Outta Compton

This post is slightly different so get ready to feel cheated and swindled if you love reading unnecessarily lengthy blogs . 

Reviews for Paper Towns & Straight Outta Compton are included in the first episode of mine and my friend Jack’s new podcast BlanketBros. 

'The film podcast you didn't ask for from guys you've never heard of.' 

It’s really early days and more a kind of fun casual side project so if you do choose to give it a listen it’d be wholeheartedly appreciated. 

https://soundcloud.com/blanketbros/blanketbros-episode-one-paper-towns-straight-outta-compton-1

Fantastic Four (2015)

This rebooted Fantastic Four film follows the standard formula from the comics, five friends use their science genius to enter a dimension and develop different superpowers. If you know anything about the FF synopsis, you know the opening to this film. They attempt to pad it out with different backstories and character variances but essentially the plot is what you’d expect.

That’s the biggest gaping problem with this film, they played it too safe and yet somehow tried to pull from too many different influences and tones. The film simply doesn’t know what it wants to be. Does it want to be light-hearted and fun like what we’re used to Marvel films being today, or does it want to be gritty and market itself to a new generation craving something darker like the Nolan Batman films? It’s amazing to me that Fox hasn’t managed to crack the code that is this franchise. The Fantastic Four was once a sought after and well known property that gave Fox huge head start on Marvel who had to build credibility on what were originally considered B list characters. But it’s now apparent that they solely don’t know what they’re doing with this material.

I saw X-Men: First Class again today out of pure chance and it still amazing how Fox managed to bring in a new cast of young actors and a fresh creative team and make a great film. They totally pulled it out of the bag that year, saving a dwindling franchise and making a sweet-ass film in one swift swoop. This film could have been to Fantastic Four what First Class was to X-Men. But they totally missed the mark. I’m not really sure who to pin this on. For months (if not years) we’ve heard stories of failed productions and scripts for this potential reboot never getting off the ground. We’ve also more recently heard how difficult the actual greenlit production was with Josh Trank being incredibly difficult to work with. Its clear to me now that he’d bitten off more than he could chew moving from a small film like Chronicle to a blockbuster like this. Many pickup shots were filmed by a different director and as a result we have a haphazard and horribly paced film.

There is plenty of talent on board: Michael B. Jordan, Toby Kebbell, Miles Teller and Kate Mara seem to be doing their best with what they had. But none of them were utilised appropriately, and it’s a shame because all of them have shown before they’re capable actors. I suppose when you have a studio telling you one thing and a wildcard director saying another it’s a problematic workspace where essentially nobody gets what they want. Going back to my point about the director, this film needed a Matthew Vaughn or a Christopher Nolan. I know Vaughn was involved but clearly not to the extent that he could have his voice heard and it’s a massive shame. There’s some pretty good visual effects in the film I suppose but with no valid character development to speak of this film turns into a Star Wars prequel where nothing is at stake for me to care.

One last thing, (and I apologise if this review has become as poorly structured as the film it's written for) why do superhero films have to end with a huge beam of light blasting into the sky? It’s almost as if focus groups or surveys have been involved somewhere along the line by some studio executive and they’ve come to the conclusion that the bigger and ‘blastier’ the beam of light is the more fan boys and girls will lose their minds. I’m sick of these tropes and clichés. If it happens that anyone with creative power over these films is reading (and I doubt that very much) please stop trying to rebrand and remarked your franchises for a new generation just to hold onto film rights. There should be a law somewhere that says that remakes and reboots can only exist when someone with a creative and exciting vision comes forward and blesses you with their ideas. Because anymore rushed reboot mistakes like this and the comic book genre will fizzle out as swiftly as it fizzled in.

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Mad Max: Fury Road

'Oh what a day, what a lovely day!'

Mad Max: Fury Road is the fourth instalment in the franchise and its thirty years in the making. Out cast is lead by Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult. 

Mankind is in disarray with strange, violent tribes ruling over a vast desert wasteland. The characters are forced to drive across it and are constantly being pursued by the film’s antagonist who looks like Skeletor. It may seem like I’ve butchered the film’s plot but trust me the less you know about the plot the better.

To call Fury Road an action film really undercuts it. In fact I liken it to calling The Shawshank Redemption a ‘prison break movie’ or Apocalypse Now a ‘war film’. Yes that definition would fit but it completely undercuts the gravity of the situation. Mad Max: Fury Road IS the action genre. It can’t be bunked in with the likes of Taken 3 because it is action right down to its core with some of the best set pieces that have ever been filmed.

It’s difficult for me to explain the epic scale of the film because I can barely even comprehend how these practical effects were utilised. For anyone who has seen this film and didn’t know, yes its almost totally practical filmmaking. That fact alone just makes me grin, thinking about how much better it looked for it. (Big ups Dan Warburton for telling me). Theres so much action going on and it doesn’t assault your senses like a Michael Bay film would do. George Miller is an action veteran and I get the impression that this is the film he wanted to make all those years ago. He handles the smaller scenes perfectly also, knowing where to sprinkle in emotion and directing his actors with great skill.

This may well be one of the best action films I’ve seen in the cinema and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a proper fun time with real action. Not like other action films where you’re swindled into attending only to find that the camera operator is having a seizure ever ten minutes.

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Avengers: Age of Ultron

'You're all puppets, tangled in strings.'

There is no denying that The Marvel Cinematic Universe is something to be commended, from a storytelling and business standpoint. The work that must go into creating these cohesive and fluent storylines, thread through all these vastly different comic book films boggles the mind. The question on everyone’s lips concerning the sequel to the biggest comic book movie of all time is: ‘can they capture that lightning in a bottle once again?’

Age of Ultron sees The Avengers trudging through their darkest path yet. Ultron is on a mission to destroy them, on a bigger and more intricate scale than Loki before him. The entire cast returns from the last film, with new faces: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen and James Spader to name a few.

Guys, I am happy to tell you that the follow up dish Joss Whedon serves to us is just as tasty as his last one. Age of Ultron is an absolute treat, a challenging new story, a plethora of incredible characters, captivating visual set pieces and fan service in all the right places. Whedon never takes his ensemble for granted, again using his actors’ flawless onscreen chemistry to his advantage.

 The character of Ultron is nothing short of the ultimate villain for this team. Strikingly performed by James Spader he chews up and spits out every scene he’s in. My only criticism is that he’s maybe not on screen enough, however with this many mouths to feed I understand why he is used sparingly and I can’t fault the film for that. The new characters are for the most part well utilised, blending in well with the already established team but also creating new dynamics.

However I did find the edition of Taylor-Johnson as Quicksilver mildly distracting. I’m not entirely sure why this was and I can only really blame it on the fact that I personally don’t find him that engrossing as an actor. It could also be that his character was the only new player who I felt was underutilised.

If you go and see this film because you love Marvel, loved the original Avengers team and want to see more on a grander scale you won’t be disappointed. If you’re going in hoping for this film to be a giant leap forward for the cinematic universe as a whole you may leave slightly hollow. For me, I was keen to see where the wider story was going to lead and there was less of that overarching story I was hoping for. I remember Whedon discussing the prospect of an Avengers sequel three years ago and he was talking about drawing influences from The Godfather Part II and The Empire Strikes Back. This is not a sequel that is going to challenge its fans like those films did. But it’s a brilliantly fun ride nonetheless and I can’t wait to see it again.

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Marvel's Daredevil

Due to my strange sleeping pattern it’s difficult for me to ‘binge’ on a television series. I’d love to be that guy, but to watch a series it does take me roughly a week or so.

Netflix’s new series follows one of Marvel’s darkest heroes in his mission to rid Hell’s Kitchen from crime. It’s gritty, dark and paints a brilliant picture of this methodical blind vigilante.

Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock is perfectly cast in his role. He’s always been an actor whose acting ability has never been stretched to its fullest in his previous roles. He pulls off the quiet brooding Matt Murdock and his hell raising alter ego with delicate execution. In the show’s second half its focus is as much on crime lord Wilson Fisk as it is on Murdock. Vincent D'Onofrio’s performance forms one of the most interesting villains we’ve seen in recent television. The character is never one dimensional in his evil, he is complex and fleshed out. I’ve always thought that the greatest villains are those who think they’re the hero of the story. That is Wilson Fisk, and he is so much more fascinating for it.

The actors surrounding the main cast do a brilliant job of heightening the main story arcs, as many times they leave to explore smaller but still relevant stories and then return when appropriate. All the cast just seems to complement each other in the best way possible.

A few years ago you would never expect a series made for Netflix could ever compete with something like True Detective or Breaking Bad with its level of excellence. I love that we live in an age of television where quality is showrunner’s main concern and Netflix is churning out shows with high ambitions. We have of course also got Marvel to thank for this as it took quite a risk with this show. It would have been so easy for them to remain in their comfort zone by creating a show with a tone consistent with their films. But they hired directors and writers who could compose scenes with high levels of grit and emotion. I thank them for these fast paced action scenes, so good that they easily rival all the shaky cam action films we’ve seen in recent years.

In conclusion, if you have Netflix and you like quality television, Daredevil is a must. 

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