Fantasy films - 2016
| Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them | The Huntsman: Winter's War |
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Writer, and now producer and screenwriter, J.K. Rowling has teamed with the director of the last four of eight Harry Potter films, David Yates, to return us to the wizarding world of Rowling's imagination. But this time, the story is set in the 1920s, long before Harry Potter was even a glimmer. Our hero in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, is Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), a shy, nerdy magical creature authority and nurturer.
Our tale begins as Scamander arrives in New York City by ship from Great Britain. He is carrying a mysterious leather case, which turns out (no real spoiler here) to contain a variety of magical creatures, many with unusual and occasionally hazardous characteristics. In short order, Newt runs afoul of the local magical authorities in New York and he and his creatures are believed responsible for certain destructive and deadly magical dealings that have been occurring recently in the city.
So, how was it?
If you have missed the wonderful trappings of Rowling's magical world, you should be pleased with this. There is ample wand wielding, magical teleporting, and mythical creatures to satisfy. The effects are excellent and no matter how fantastic the thing one is observing, it never seems like a cartoon. Scamander and his trio of New York friends are an amusing, good-hearted bunch and they are easy to root for.
Oscar winner (The Theory of Everything) Redmayne's portrayal of Newt Scamander is interesting and one of the best things about the film. He is an unusual hero - shy, but courageous, nerdy, but resourceful and capable. It is as if he knows perfectly what he is doing and why, but he also feels as if he is separate from everyone else - intrinsically unlike them - and he expects rejection if he is seen too closely. Since very little of his back-story is revealed, his behavior is our main guide to whatever his life has made of him. It always pays to cast good actors in these roles.
Quibbles? Few, really. The first 45 minutes is a bit slow and I have to admit I was checking my watch a bit. But it takes off pretty well after that. It isn't really a criticism, but Newt's story lacks the gravitas of Harry’s. It may not be fair, but it's probably unavoidable that the two stories and characters will be compared. "The boy who lived" and had to bear the legacy of being the one who had to vanquish the great evil is simply not here. There are, of course, other stories worth telling in Rowling's world and we see one of them here. It isn't of the epic nature of the Potter series, but not every story has to be.
I wondered about Rowling’s choice to set the story in the past, but it turned out to be rather nice. I found myself not remotely missing jumbo jets, digital technology, or modern music. The America of 90 years ago, has a bit of an old-fashioned, romantic feel to it in the days before people had quite so overwhelmingly overrun the planet.
Fantastic Beasts offers a very balanced blend of humor, action, drama, and movie magic to make it a crowd-pleaser and a couple of enjoyable hours. I look forward to the inevitable sequel and getting to know these characters and their world a bit better.
- JC
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It must be difficult being Chris Hemsworth. The poor man only seems to be able to do well in films as larger than life heroes, cast with the most beautiful actresses in film. In fact, he struggles in films where he is a mere mortal surrounded by other normal people. It's like he doesn't belong there. I weep for the man.
The Huntsman: Winter's War is a sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman from 2012. It's not a prequel as some have said. It is set seven years after the events in the previous film, but has a 30 minute flashback to the Huntsman, Eric's (Hemsworth), early life. The evil queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron) had a sister, Freya (Emily Blunt), who because of a great tragedy literally became the ice queen of the northern lands. As such, she took children from their families to add to her invincible army of "huntsmen." Eric was among these children, as was Sara (Jessica Chastain). The two grow up together as the most able warriors in Freya's army. However, they also fall in love, which is forbidden under their queen's law. They are separated and Eric is cast out. Years later, Snow White tasks Eric with locating the evil Magic Mirror, which has gone missing, and taking it somewhere it can do no further harm. Learning that Freya has an interest in acquiring the mirror, Eric agrees to help, both out of revenge and also because he knows that with the mirror's power, Freya could become unstoppable. With a pair of dwarven allies as companions, Eric sets out on a quest fitting of a high fantasy tale of this sort.
So how was it? As was similarly noted in London Has Fallen, this was a film that didn't really need to be made. It is simply a reasonably entertaining story allowing us to revisit characters that people found appealing in the previous film. While Kristen Stewart was apparently unwilling to appear as Snow White again, it wasn't as difficult to convince Charlize Theron to come back and chew up the scenery again as the evil queen. Emily Blunt was able to get a paycheck for a fairly subdued performance and Jessica Chastain got to play an action hero for the first time and pulled it off convincingly. It's a fun, though not particularly memorable, way of passing a few hours.
As for Chris Hemsworth? He did as he usually does. He played the likeable, brave, hunky hero surrounded by beautiful women. Tough job, but somebody's got to do it.
- Swift