It's very different except for

I liked this much better than the Harry Potter movies, maybe because I'm more into adult characters than kids. I stayed unspoiled so went into this with fresh eyes .

I was concerned Jacob's character was just going to be for comic relief but was pleasantly surprised they did more with him than that. I really loved Tina's sister, and I'm not usually into "dumb blonde" characters.
I have several soundtracks by Newton-Howard, and this one is excellent. Fun, beautiful, fitting. I see it's a best seller on Amazon. Glad he harkened back to the HP theme only once or twice subtly.

Looking forward to the next one.

7/10 for me. I thought all the performances were good even Waterston and especially Farrell, he was pretty great. They did kind of taper off with Voight and his sons plot though didn't they.

Rudinet wrote: They did kind of taper off with Voight and his sons plot though didn't they.

oh yeah

Neat little flick but I just don't see how they can pull out four other movies with a main character whose only skill is to show off his magical beasties

Second one is set to happen in Paris? Yay I'll finally get to see my wizarding community

Man, didn't expect it but I liked this. All four protagonists were likeable and I want them in the sequels. I also watched Moana before this so it was definitely a lovely night at the movies.

didich wrote:

I think this would have worked better without Grindewald himself.

Also the tonal shifts from protagonists' perspective to muggleworld was constantly jarring and I was taken out of the magic (figuratively and literally), except for the finale when they logically merged the two. It's not without faults (read: it's not Moana!), but I appreciate the genuine lead characters and message behind it. It also hypes you for what's coming. Honestly one of my faves from Potterworld now.

Favorite character: Jacob Kowalski, just brilliant.

I was surprised by how much I like Newt myself, I think the character could have easily seemed more annoying in the wrong hands. I also liked Queenie and Jacob but I felt Tina was... off? It's like Waterson and the script just didn't mix, the writing seemed to be giving her a playfulness that the acting wasn't showing very well.