Harry Potter Fans Point Out Biggest Fantastic Beasts Problem
Who doesn't love the Wizarding World created by JK Rowling? The first eight films, featuring the tale of Harry Potter, "the boy who lived," swept us away in wonder and made us believe magic could be real.
It was expected we would all feel a stab of disappointment when the final movie ended. The tale had come to an end, or so we thought. There is no denying the unrestrained joy and excitement felt by Harry Potter fans when we learned we would be getting an entirely new series of films, all masterminded by the author herself, JK Rowling.
Enter the Fantastic Beasts movies. Prequels that aim to set the stage for the Harry Potter tales of their future. We meet new characters and see some familiar ones in their much younger forms. We are blessed with magnificent new creatures, new places, and new stories to lose ourselves within. But all is not as rosy as it seems. Harry Potter fans have identified the biggest issue with the Fantastic Beasts films.
Die-hard fans of something are never shy about expressing their discontent. And it is clear that the Fantastic Beasts movies are far from perfect, but one could argue, what movie is? It largely stuck to JK Rowling's formula, it took us on a journey with wonderful characters and showed us the magic that was mind-bowling. So, what is the problem? Simple, really. The problem is a lack of depth.
Fantastic Beasts did not seem to add much to the Wizarding World
At least in terms of locations and places. The Harry Potter films seemed to have something new for us with every movie. We saw Hogwarts, The Forbidden Forest, Diagon Alley, The Leaky Cauldron, Hogsmeade, The Ministry of Magic, several awesome homes of witches and wizards, the list goes on.
But for some reason, we do not seem to get anything new in Fantastic Beasts. Surely, the Wizarding World is not so small that we have already covered it in the original film series? The lack of depth here is a real missed opportunity to show us even more staggering magical locations.
Fantastic Beasts is lacking in depth in terms of its magic
Yes, there is an abundance of magic in these films. But while we got to see even the most seasoned witches and wizards struggle at times in the Harry Potter series, which added real dimension to the films, Fantastic Beasts has the characters performing magic that just seems so effortless, it borders on boring.
Fantastic Beasts lacks depth in terms of direction
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David Yates is a talented director, but he has a signature style that shows. Christopher Columbus introduced us to the childlike wonder of the first Harry Potter films, Alfonso Cuaron took over the reins for the third instalment, with Yates directing final four films.
This was a good decision, because as the Harry Potter films progressed, they got darker. Voldemort was growing in strength, innocents were dying, and we were building up to the devastating Battle for Hogwarts in which victory finally comes, albeit with the terrible price of many lost loved ones. Yates' style is dark. And he brought this style with him for Fantastic Beasts.
The problem is, this style does not suit the films, leaving them feeling dark for no reason. It is frustrating because directorial decisions should add depth to a film, not take away from it.
But the biggest problem with the trilogy is…
…the cowardice of its creators. Instead of taking a risk and bringing something new and unique to the world of Harry Potter, they decided to use the scheme of past movies and make a standard blockbuster. To do so, they even broke the previously established rules (remember how wizards knew almost nothing about the Muggle world?).
As a result, the Fantastic Beasts trilogy turned out to be soulless, bland, and colorless, so much so that some fans call it just a cash grab.
So, there you have it. As pointed out by Harry Potter fans themselves, Fantastic Beasts had such enormous potential based on its brilliant source material. But lack of depth has unfortunately scarred an otherwise perfect series of Wizarding World films.