FANTASTIC BEASTS and FOUR FALL FILMS

‘FANTASTIC BEASTS’ and Four Fall Films

Just Touching on the Movies I’ve seen but have been too busy to write about

Life—it’s busy. There’s 8-hour workdays five times a week, plus grad school homework, karate practice, time with friends, time with the roommate, sickness, vacation, and all sorts of things.

Let’s be straight about this: if I wasn’t in grad school and didn’t have that obligation, I probably would be all caught up on my movie reviews. But since my Saturdays are usually devoted to homework now, and Sunday is a lot of hanging out with the roommate or running errands, I’ve been seeing movies on Friday nights, breaking my typical routine of seeing Saturday matinee showings and then going straight home to write about them. As a result, I’ve gotten home and been too tired to write a review afterward, and then—it’s just slipped by.

That said, all the movies I’ve seen this fall have been notable in some way, so I wanted to at least toss out a few thoughts on each, going in order, starting with the most recent.

FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM         

Grade: B-

Five and a half years after the last Harry Potter film was released in theaters (summer 2011’s Deathly Hallows – Part 2), here we get a feature film-length version of a fictional book that was mentioned once or twice throughout the seven-book Potter series. Written by Potter scribe J.K. Rowling, and directed by David Yates—who directed the last four Potter films—Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the first of, I would guess, many “Harry-Potter-Extended-Universe” movies we’re likely to get.

I adored Harry Potter. The books, anyway. I wasn’t a huge fan of the movies, particularly the entries Yates directed (2007’s Order of the Phoenix through the aforementioned series finale). I didn’t know Yates directed Fantastic Beasts going in, but, once it was over, I was not at all surprised to see his name atop the credits. Beasts has the same dark, dark tone (and color palette) as the other wizarding films Yates directed.

This movie is not about Harry Potter. Neither our scar-headed hero nor his parents have even been born by the year in which Fantastic Beasts takes place. This film is about Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), a bookish wizard from England who, in 1926, arrived in New York City with a mission to research some magical creatures he’s heard have flourished on this side of the pond. Scamander, who has never been to America before, immediately notes the differences between the underground magical world in America, and the one he left behind. There’s a Madame President (Carmen Ejogo) atop the magical hierarchy instead of a Minister, the biggest magic school around here is called Ilvermony (as opposed to Hogwarts), and a non-magic individual is referred to as a “no-maj” (for no-magic) as opposed to a “muggle”, and wizards are generally directed to interact with them as little as possible.

Scamander is fine keeping a low profile, but, alas, magic does not mix well with the non-magical world. A pet of his gets loose, leading to an unlikely series of events in which Scamander and a no-maj he met named Kowalski (Dan Fogler) are the unlikely guests of a pair of witches (a disgraced magical government agent played by Katherine Waterson and her mind-reading sister, played by Alison Sudol) as multiple magical creatures run amuck in the city and a government agent (Colin Farrell) sniffs out their trail. Meanwhile, a sinister, invisible magical force is creating havoc and terror in the city—one that Scamander has had nothing to do with, and one that is threatening to reveal the magical world once and for all.

I’m glad to know J.K. Rowling wrote the screenplay and was directly involved—thus, these are her ideas, and not just someone trying to add onto her creation. Thus, there are the usual cutesy, clever magical touches: pictures that move; dishes that wash themselves; clocks that tell a lot more than the time; a briefcase that contains an entire hidden world; paper memos shaped like critters that actually fight each other. Some of the fantastic beasts of the title get ample screen-time as well, and they’re really something—gorgeously-rendered CGI creatures that fly, climb, swim, horde jewelry, and even run around on amorous rampages.

The main problem I had with Fantastic Beasts was its uneven tone. I know this is the Harry Potter universe, where exciting magic usually goes hand-in-hand with doom and gloom, but for a brand-new story, it was a little bewildering. In one corner, we have the magic and whimsy of Newt Scamander’s adventures with a gob-smacked but likably-curious no-maj, and in the other corners we have Colin Farrell’s cold-eyed government agent, an invisible destructive force that snatches the life out of people, and a pale, anti-magic crusader (Samantha Morton) who beats her children and intimidates orphans. It all makes sense (mostly) once it unravels, but, until then, these other, darker passages are more annoying than anything. As viewers, we’re quite content to watch Scamander and his no-maj hurry around trying to round up the mischievous magical creatures. And then all of a sudden we’re watching poor, pale, cringing Credence (Ezra Miller) sullenly taking off his belt and handing it to his mother so she can whale on him for, I don’t know, saying the word “magic” or something. There are some interesting ideas here, but, as was my opinion with all four of his Potter films, Yates doesn’t seem very adept at balancing them or making some of these elements particularly viewer-friendly.

The one problem with seeing Rowling as the screenwriter is knowing that all of this, even the elements that did not fit, were of her creation, when she rarely (if ever) made a creative misstep through her seven-novel series. The cast is fine (with Redmayne, Fogler and Sudol in particular giving likeable turns), but, overall, Fantastic Beasts is lacking a little magic.

HACKSAW RIDGE

Grade: B

Hacksaw Ridge is imperfect, but it centers on a remarkable true story that needed and deserved to be told. Directed by Mel Gibson (his first directorial effort since 2006’s Apocalypto), Ridge tells the story of Desmond Doss (played as an adult by Andrew Garfield), a young man from central Virginia who, after nearly killing his older brother during a childhood fight, decided to dedicate his life to God and to helping people. When the US entered World War II, he signed up to fight, as patriotic as any young man. However, his religious convictions meant he would not kill in the line of duty, or even handle a weapon. Regarded with incredulity by his commanding officers (Vince Vaughn, Sam Worthington) and with contempt by fellow Marines like Smitty (Luke Bracey), Doss barely avoided a court martial and served alongside his unit in the bloody campaign for Okinawa near the end of the WWII Pacific campaign. It was at a murder-hole of a hill named Hacksaw Ridge that he made his legend—after American units were forced to retreat before a terrifying Japanese assault, Doss treated and saved 75 wounded men from the front by dragging or carrying them out of the kill zone.

This is a movie of two halves—a quaint, overly-simplistic prologue containing the cliché, forced budding romance between Doss and his real-life sweetheart, Dorothy; and the visceral, terrifying, war-is-hell second half. That’s no joke. Maybe it’s no surprise to hear that the man who directed Braveheart, The Passion of the Christ, and Apocalypto has created another blood-and-guts movie about war, but to see it is another. Any ideas any viewer might have that war is cool, exciting, or glorious in any way is in for a rude awakening—Hacksaw Ridge is as gory and shocking as any war-based film or TV series to date, including Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down, and the HBO series The Pacific. Garfield gives a tremendous performance, and he’s given able support by Vaughn, Weaving, Bracey, and Worthington (who utters the real life-lesson of the movie that resonated with me: “the men may not believe like you do, but they believe in how much you believe.”). The movie’s not perfect, but it is an astounding testament to courage, in honor of the real life Doss, who won the Medal of Honor for his bravery.

DOCTOR STRANGE

Grade: B+

The Marvel Cinematic Universe just keeps on rolling. The well-oiled machine this time churns out Doctor Strange, about a hotshot brain surgeon (Benedict Cumberbatch) turned manipulator of time and space. After suffering debilitating injuries in a car wreck, the unemployed, humbled Stephen Strange receives an ambiguous tip about a spiritist cult in Nepal. At first, he’s cynical, but he soon learns astonishing secrets of the universe from the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor), and bookkeeper Wong (Benedict Wong). Showing a surprising knack for the magical theatrics, Strange ends up being the first line of defense in an ancient war against the darkest forces of the universe.

Generally speaking, Strange isn’t a major departure from the usual superhero origin story. But the intriguing screen presence of Cumberbatch, the solid supporting cast, and next-level graphics and concepts make this one of the better first films in the Marvel canon—surely stronger than efforts like Thor, The Incredible Hulk and Ant-Man.

SNOWDEN

Grade: B+

I’ll go ahead and say I liked Snowden the most of any of these five films. That may be due to the fact that I gained a lot more knowledge about a name I’ve heard a lot for a few years now. It could be due to another exceptional turn by Joseph Gordon-Levitt—one of the most gifted young actors around—plus the best Shailene Woodley performance since The Descendants. It may be because I truly agreed with Snowden—the end should not justify illegal and unethical means, such as spying on nearly everyone in the world via pretty much any means (cell phones, computers, etc…) possible. It is for that reason—that former special forces operative Edward Snowden blew the whistle on the most dubious secrets of his former employers, the CIA and the NSA—that the real Edward Snowden still lives in Russia (with real-life girlfriend Lindsay Mills, Woodley’s character) under threat of certain trial and imprisonment for treason. As if to hammer home the point, at the end of this well-acted, eye-opening, conscientious flick, the real Edward Snowden makes a key, poignant cameo as himself, stating that he just wanted to wake up every morning knowing that he was going to do the right thing. I think we could all learn something from that.

SULLY

Grade: B

For a movie that was directed by Clint Eastwood, that stars the ever-popular Tom Hanks, and is about a real-life incident in which 155 people were saved from almost certain death by a quick-thinking airline pilot—it’s amazing that Sully, though solid, pretty much has no reason to exist. As was true of Snowden and Hacksaw Ridge, it’s based on an amazing true story. On January 15, 2009, airline pilot Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger, along with co-pilot Jeff Skiles (the always-good Aaron Eckhart), was piloting US Airways Flight 1529 out of LaGuardia Airport in New York City. Barely a minute into the flight, the airbus flew through a flock of birds, some of whom became entangled in the jet engines and caused the plane to plunge in a downward trajectory. Believing that he did not have time to turn back to LaGuardia or head for nearby Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, “Sully” (as everyone, even his wife—played by Laura Linney—calls him) made the decision to make a “water landing” on the Hudson River. It would later be proven by simulators that this almost certainly saved the lives of all passengers and crew on the plane, let alone potential lives on the ground in New York City. But the National Transportation Safety Board (embodied here by Anna Gunn, Mike O’Malley, and Jamey Sheridan) wasn’t convinced, and they investigated Sully and the incident, believing he’d endangered people when better options were available.

It sounds interesting, right? But considering the whole incident lasted about two minutes, there isn’t much to go on. The movie is 96 minutes long, and that’s kind of stretching it. There’s a great message in this story—a professional’s wisdom and piloting experience, the quick reaction of the New York City police and fire department that rescued everyone from the Hudson within minutes, the NTSA made a mountain out of a molehill, everyone survived—but this movie suggests that maybe this story is more ideal material for a documentary. It’s a great story, and a decent film (Hanks is great, of course, Eckhart is solid, and the plane sequence itself is intense), but it’s over quick.

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FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM

Directed by David Yates

Screenplay by J.K. Rowling

Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterson, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Colin Farrell, Ezra Miller, Carmen Ejogo, Samantha Morton, and Jon Voight

Length: 133 minutes

Rated PG-13 for intense action and scary moments

HACKSAW RIDGE

Directed by Mel Gibson

Screenplay by Robert Schenkkan and Andrew Knight

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Luke Bracey, Sam Worthington, Teresa Palmer, Vince Vaughn, Hugo Weaving, and Rachel Griffiths

Length: 139 minutes

Rated R for strong, graphic, bloody violence and gore, language, and some emotional content

DOCTOR STRANGE

Directed by Scott Derrickson

Screenplay by John Spaihts, Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill

Based on the Marvel comics by Steve Ditko

Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Tilda Swinton, Benedict Wong, Mads Mikkelsen, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Benjamin Bratt

Length: 115 minutes

Rated PG-13 for intense action, language, emotional content and some scary moments

SNOWDEN

Directed by Oliver Stone

Screenplay by Kieran Fitzgerald and Oliver Stone

Based on the books ‘The Snowden Files’ by Luke Harding, and ‘Time of the Octopus’, by Anatoly Kucherena

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Zachary Quinto, Melissa Leo, Rhys Ifans, Tom Wilkinson, Joely Richardson, Nicolas Cage, Ben Schnetzer, Scott Eastwood, Timothy Olyphant, and Edward Snowden as Himself

Length: 131 minutes

Rated R for strong language and sexuality

SULLY

Directed by Clint Eastwood

Screenplay by Todd Komarnicki

Based on the book ‘Highest Duty’ by Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger and Jeffrey Zaslow

Starring: Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, Laura Linney, Mike O’Malley, Anna Gunn, and Jamey Sheridan

Length: 96 minutes

Rated PG-13 for intense scenes (including a plane crash), language, brief bloody images, and some emotional content