Movie Reviews: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Moana

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

I went in with mild expectations for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, mostly stemming from the faith that J.K. Rowling wrote the script herself, and was met with a film I ended up really loving. The film is adventurous, sweet, and ultimately quite magical. Not only did I feel that it was a great extension of the Wizarding World, I warmed up to the new environment, time period, and characters as if I had known them for years.

As soon as Eddie Redmayne was cast in the lead role of New Scamander, I felt he physically seemed perfect for the Wizarding World. His lead character, Newt Scamander, is a magizoologist, with an expertise in magical beasts. As he makes his way to New York on a journey to take one of those beasts to the environment where he truly belongs, he is sidetracked by a collection of events in America’s wizarding community. Considering how tough it is to live up to the friendship of Harry, Ron, and Hermione from the Harry Potter series, I was surprised at just how much I ended up loving the four main characters introduced in this new series. 

Newt, Tina (Katherine Waterston), Jacob (Dan Fogler), and Queenie (Alison Sudol) are all quite different, but the mix of their personalities really worked. I especially enjoyed having the presence of a muggle (or no-maj as it is called in America), something that sets it apart from the Harry Potter series. Jacob and Queenie were the biggest standouts for me, and I can’t wait to see how their story evolves and how their bond changes the wizard and no-maj relationships in America.

The beasts in the Harry Potter books were something that I was always so fascinated with, so to have a movie series with a large focus on those creatures was a huge excitement for me. I anticipated the scenes where Newt shows off his creatures most of all, and the primary scene where we go into his magical suitcase did not disappoint. All of the creatures that do escape his bag early on in the film were a delight to discover, and it is fun to see some of these creatures that were mentioned in the Harry Potter books or J.K. Rowling’s writings in the past, finally come alive on the big screen.

My biggest hesitation about the film was the villain. The story begins with a mysterious Graves (played by Colin Farrell) whose motives aren’t very clear, making a twist at the end not overly surprising. The differences of the American wizarding communities government and are laid out through his story though, also detailing the fear some have for wizards and how they are trying to convince others that they exist. A boy caught in the middle, Credence (Ezra Miller), turns to Graves for support, creating a dangerous mixture. Although I will leave my opinion about the twist at the end open until the next film, I think there could be a lot of interesting things to come if the right direction is taken.

Most importantly, the film left me wanting more, and can’t wait to see what J.K. Rowling (along with director David Yates, who also directed the last four Harry Potter films) has up her sleeve, with hopefully a few wonderful moments with some Harry Potter characters that seem destined to cross paths with Newt.

Moana

Disney’s newest animated feature film, Moana, follows a young Polynesian girl who sets off on a journey to find the demigod Maui (voiced with gusto by Dwayne Johnson), in order to save her island from a curse he set in place many years ago. I had high expectations for this film, because of just how great Disney’s animated films have been since Tangled, and for the most part it didn’t disappoint. 

My biggest hesitation was that I didn’t find the story itself particularly unique or special. There also isn’t a memorable villain, something that Disney really hasn’t had for quite a few years now. At one point I thought that Maui was going to be a “surprise” villain, since they have been using that format in most of their recent films, but was relieved when my hunch was incorrect. The moment Moana (who is voiced quite wonderfully by Auli'i Cravalho) set out on her journey though, I figured I knew what was coming and how it would turn out, which made it a bit predictable, but nonetheless it was still a good journey to take part in. The beautiful animation and fun characters are what makes the film truly great. I especially liked how the ocean interacted with Moana, and the scenery of the water and islands were a gorgeous escape.

Frozen was the last musical, or “princess," film Disney released, and while it became a bit too popular, I personally find that overall it is still a more memorable film than Moana. The music is catchier and the story of two sisters, as well as poking fun at how quickly people find “true love” in Disney’s past princess films, makes it a special story. Disney’s other big animated film this year (other than Disney Pixar’s Finding Dory), Zootopia, also still holds the cake as my favorite animated movie this year (and maybe my favorite film this year, period).

Moana is still a great addition to the lineup though and I will certainly be re-watching it many more times like I do most of Disney’s films. It definitely stands up there with one of my top films of the year, and I can’t wait to see it again to pick up new little things that I missed. While there may not be a “Let It Go” or other outstanding princess theme, Lin-Manuel Miranda (the man behind Broadway hits “Hamilton” and “In The Heights”) assisted in writing the music, with “How Far I’ll Go,” “I Am Moana,” and “We Know the Way” being the standout songs for me. The character of Moana was adorably kind, humorous, and strong, and alongside the strong and humorous Maui, Disney has created a memorable duo.