Even the minor characters pulled at my heartstrings.
Sell me on Tina. She's incredibly unlikable and
the relationship, if you will, between her and Newt doesn't feel organic at all. The final scene between them is really well acted, but what comes before it doesn't make the scene feel legitimate or earned.
Also, the pacing of the film felt way off for me. I've seen all 8 Potter films numerous times, and this movie, with its lack of clear plot and refusal to
establish who Graves is, his motivations, as well as the Salem folks, really made the film drag for me.
Don't misunderstand, I didn't hate the film, but as a huge Potter fan, it was a let down for me because how do you continue this story for 4 more films? It feels like a stretch to me.
The reason Tina worked for me and I didn't have the problem some of you had is this: Tina is as much of an outsider as Newt, though when we first meet her, she's in denial about who she really is as a person. She's uppity and determined to prove why she never should have been fired from her job. And in her personal life she has nothing. Her response to her landlady: "Alone, Ms. [Whoever]; always alone," was a brilliant characterization bit of dialogue. Those two words told me everything about Tina and her life at the time. So when Newt comes along, in truth, she's found someone very much like herself--isolated and a bit different than others--but she's not ready to admit that to herself; she still has this vision of being someone she isn't. As she spends more time with Newt, she realizes she's not better than him, instead she sees in him all of her true, good qualities, and it makes her want to embrace them instead of denying them. She wants to care for something more than her job. That all contributes to why I believed their relationship (and potential future relationship) by that last scene with them.
Also, can I just add that James Newton-Howard's soundtrack is brilliant--both whimsical and beautiful. Definitely my favorite soundtrack of the year.
I saw all of the HP films, and I feel the opposite of some of you--I loved Fantastic Beasts whereas with the HP films I enjoyed them but never watched them more than once and would never buy them. FB I will definitely buy, and I've already seen it twice in the theater and hope to see it one more time. I'm curious to know if it's us "older" fans that feel that way compared to the younger ones on here. And on that same note, I wonder among those who liked/didn't like Tina, which of those are guys/girls. I'm wondering if perhaps the boys didn't care as much for Tina because she was a plain-Jane type of brunette. Just curious.
