"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by David Yates (2016)

Curiosity killed the Cat. 

Although nothing makes me more happy than old black and white classics, obviously I just had to poke my nose at another mega-hyped blockbuster bursting with special effects. And perhaps its time to face the obvious truth - I am absolutely, perfectly fine if I never see another special effects filled movie in my life. All those "Lord of the Rings" and similar fantasy movies were fine back than but I just had enough. Not that I didn't enjoy them, yes I did when everything was still new - I even remember the very first "Superman" way back in the 1980s and how thrilling it all was - but now, at this point it seems that movies are done exclusively and only with tons of special effects until they stupefy the audience into coma and really the time has come that cinema production has to change or else we will all become zombies soaking in another computer animation after another.

The original "Harry Potter" phenomenon was cute. I must admit that the very first book didn't overwhelm me and I wondered what was all the fuss about, but eventually later I really started enjoying the sequels, even liked the movies which were surprisingly entertaining, visually perfect and close to the novels. I still think it was wonderful that series made children all over the world start reading again and J.K.Rowling  really deserves our love for it. However, I am always little suspicious about anything that even hints at merchandise, advertisements, marketing and franchise oriented products. So naturally I even approached this movie with reservations.

The story happens way before "Harry Potter" in 1920s when young wizard Newt Scamander arrives from UK with magic suitcase filled with fantastic beasts who escape and run around the town, creating danger, hysteria and problems for Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA) who strictly forbids magic in public places. Along the way Scamander encounters expected friends and enemies, there is a comic sidekick Jacob Kowalski and two witch sisters, dangerous wizard (Colin Farrell who obviously didn't understand that accepting this kind of role means everything else he ever did will be overshadowed in the future) and some demonic orphans controlled by evil spinster. The script is actually not bad at all and there is interesting story somewhere deep inside but totally eclipsed by special effects that so ubiquitously twirl in front of our eyes, constantly, non stop and never ending to the effect that at certain point I noticed that movie just goes on and on forever. Honestly, last 30 minutes were pure agony where I just couldn't wait for all of this to finish. My friends thought the movie was "great" but for me this was overdose of special effects and I decided this is not for me. From now on, only documentaries and old classics.