Pokematic Reviews Fantastic Beast The Crimes of Grindelwald

There's a new movie in the Fantastic Beasts franchise. I went to see it, and it was an interesting experience.

If it's not a good game or Catholic...who do you call?...why Pokematic "hi."

If you didn't know, I'm a fan of the Harry Potter series (see Truth About Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 and Part 2 reviews, Everything Wrong With Cinemasins Harry Potter, and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them review). I also really enjoy "world building stories" for franchises I enjoy; yes, the story of a boy wizard who has to take down the most evil wizard in the world is quite interesting, but we only ever really see the school with very brief glimpses at the world J.K. Rowling built. The whole "here's the world outside of Hogwarts" thing along with "here are skilled adult wizards who aren't still learning magic" thing is what made me really like the original Fantastic Beasts movie. So with this new entry in the Fantastic Beasts franchise, I was really interested, so lets see what was in store for us.

So with this movie, I'm very torn. Like, super SUPER torn as to if I like this or not. On one hand, I think it's a great world building film that showcases some familiar characters long before Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone with excellent world building, but on the other hand it's a real mess of a film. And this isn't just me saying "should I be a good critic and say it was bad, or should I be a good Harry Potter fanboy and say it was good?" No, I'm not about that; I give you my opinion and don't try to please a fan group whom I belong to by being disingenuous. No, I am really REALLY torn as to if I liked it or disliked it. So let me break this down.

As far as the like goes, I really liked the world building. As I said earlier, the Harry Potter books and movies are good, but they only really take place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (or forests if you're Deathly Hallows). We briefly see the world outside Hogwarts when they go to Diagon Alley, or the Ministry of Magic, or other single areas, but we don't really see what magical people do outside of going to school, or how they interact with Muggles/No Maj's. With Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, we see the adult world of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and it's great. In this movie, we get more of that. We're back with Newt Scamander, the eccentric wizard who has a real fondness for magical beasts, and his fantastic beasts and animals. He travels to various different real world locations (like France) to deal with the story's conflict. We also have a return of Jacob Kowalski, the American No Maj who befriended Newt and fell in love with Queenie, who provides some good comic relief and acts as the audience for the exposition of world building with how the different magical things work. So far all of this is really awesome. We also get duels between experienced adult wizards, which makes for some REALLY awesome fight scenes, because "they're experienced adults; these aren't kids yelling simple spells at each other that don't cause major damage." The stakes are much higher in this film compared to pretty much the first half of the Harry Potter series (and maybe all the way up to book/movie 6).

Now there's the call backs. I'm not spoiling anything when I say a younger Dumbledoor is in this movie (he's in the trailers). In the Harry Potter movies Dumbledoor is this old and powerful mentor figure to Harry who knows a great deal but doesn't really do much beyond imparting some words of wisdom at key points in Harry's learning (at least in the first 4 books/movies), and is rather distant in terms of his relationship with Harry (again, at least for the first 4-5 books/movies). With this Dumbledoor, while he doesn't do a whole lot either (side character, not main character), not only do we learn more about his past, we also see him in a "less super powerful" light. Yes, he still has this air of power, but it's not "I'm the head master of this school, I do whatever I want because my word is law." He's a friend of Newt, and they talk as equals. He disagrees with authority figures, and he's not really able to say "you have no power here, get lost." There are also brief mentions of his past that were only discussed in the books, which was a nice touch to the loyal fans. We also see at least 2 other familiar names, just either with a younger face or a face for the first time. We also see many major plot elements from Sorcerer's Stone show up as cameos. That was really cool.

Now for the bad, which SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
So this movie is about...I really don't know. It starts out as a story about tracking down the escaped criminal Grindelwald, who escaped in transport, and that lasts for a good 10 minutes. Then it changes focus to this "side show freak" (that's what his job was, he worked in a traveling side show as one of the displays) and what his past is, and if he's a "chosen one for evil" person with the Ministry of Magic going after him and trying to kill him. Then it starts going on about Leta Lastrange, who's marrying Newt's brother and Newt was her only friend back in Hogwarts and her story or something. An then it starts talking about Grindelwald and how he's not necessarily evil because he isn't shown hurting anyone maliciously, it's really the Ministry of Magic and Aorer's that are the bad guys. And about 2/3 of the way through the movie I just asked myself "what is going on?" Like, I'm generally really good at following stories, but I just reached a point where I'm just like "isn't this movie about Grindelwald?" Like, OK, I can buy that Voldemort doesn't do much in the Harry Potter series except for right at the ends, and the Harry Potter titles generally didn't do a whole lot with the entry as a whole (the sorcerer's stone was the end McGuffin, the goblet of fire was just something to aid in the tri-wizard tournament, the deathly hallows was a story in a book that gave some hints to what Voldemort was up to but not much, etc.), but to call this "the Crimes of Grindelwald" and have it open as it did was just a little confusing if you ask me. It just kind of goes in too many directions and tries to develop too many character stories if you ask me. It does somewhat come together but I just don't really get it.

SPOILERS OVER.

I don't know, maybe if I watch it again I'll be able to figure out what's going on. I might need to rent it when it comes out on home media. It's really hard for me to say "you should see this" or "you should pass on this." I guess if you're a "serious movie viewer with a critical eye," then you should probably pass on this one. I guess if you're a major fan of the Harry Potter universe you'll enjoy seeing familiar characters and an expanded world outside of Hogwarts and should see it. However, if you're somewhere inbetween, maybe wait for a rental or see a cheap matinee? I mean, I think I got my $5 worth. I don't know. What I do know, is it has been WAY too long since I've been to non-fathom movies. This has been Pokematic, signing off, and bu-bye.

Pokematic Reviews Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

If it's not a good game or catholic...who do you call?...why Pokematic "hi."

I recently saw Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and let me say, it's an interesting adventure. Let me start by saying, this is not a "Harry Potter movie," this is "a movie that takes place in the Harry Potter universe." What does that mean you ask? Well this is the same wizarding universe that Harry lives in, but it has absolutely nothing to do with Harry. In fact, Harry isn't even born yet, or even his parents for that matter. This is a movie about Newt Scamander, the author of the text book "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" that Harry and his friends use in the books and movies, and his New York adventure.

So in this movie there are 2 main stories with 1 overarching sub-story. The first story is about Newt and his fantastic beasts. He's an English wizard that comes to New York for fantastic beasts. He has a magic suit case that is larger on the inside than it is on the outside (it's magic, roll with it), and within he has basically an entire zoo. After a run in with wizarding customs and a no-maj (aka "muggle"), he loses some of his creatures and he has to track them down. In addition to the general mayhem that magical creatures cause, there is an obscurous that is reeking havoc. An obscurous is a witch/wizard who is suppressing their powers normally because they are embarrassed of their magical powers, and their suppressed powers culminate into a dark force. Since Newt loves magical creatures, and an obscurous is sort of a creature, Newt gets involved with finding this obscurous. As for the sub-plot, there's this group calling themselves "New Salem" who believe witches live among them and must be destroyed. They're mostly conspiracy nuts, but with witches and wizards living among them, they're kind of a threat. In terms of story, it's pretty run of the mill. It's not an epic hero's journey like Harry Potter, but it's pretty good.

Then there are the characters. We have Newt, who is an eccentric magic creature lover. He kind of reminds me of Haggrid, except he lives in a time when people don't like magic creatures. It's kind of interesting how he has to prove to everyone the benefit of the fantastic beasts. Then there's Tina, the wizard customs official and former auror that joins Newt in his adventures with the fantastic beasts. She is kind of a love interest, but it's not a heavy love interest. Then there's Queenie, who is Tina's sister and can read minds. She just kind of comes along for the ride, and to deliver exposition. Since she can read minds, the exposition is delivered in a rather interesting way. Instead of her asking "who's the girl on your desk," she's just like "the girl on your desk, she was your best friend, wasn't she?"  It's kind of hard to explain. But then there's my favorite character, Jacob Kawalski, the "no-maj." I don't care who you are, Jacob is the most relatable character in the movie. Why? Because unlike other times no-maj/muggles appeared in the films, they show up for a minute and then get obvliviated if they learn about magic, or don't do anything. Kawalski on the other hand, sticks around for the movie with full knowledge of magic, and everything is new to him. As we see all these magical events happen before our eyes, Kawalski is expressing the same wonder that we are expressing. Sure, he doesn't do much in terms of aiding the story, but he captures what we feel.

So the story and characters are a little lacking. But what makes this good? 2 words, "world, building," and 3 more words, "suspension of disbelief." First lets start with the setting. All the other Harry Potter books and movies take place in the fictional wizarding world of Hogwarts, or in London and the forests of England. With the latter, eh, you see one forest you've seen them all, in my opinion, so it's not that exciting. As for London, well I've never been so as far as I'm concerned, "London, England" could be an elaborate rouse and doesn't actually exist since I've only ever seen it second hand. With the setting of New York on the other hand, I've been there; I've seen the Statue of Liberty, I've walked through Central Park, I drove down neighborhoods that still have the 1920s architecture. Plus, unlike the books and movies that primarily take place in the very distant wizarding world, this takes place primarily in New York. It really helps with the suspension of disbelief. The other thing is the time setting. Unlike the Harry Potter books that take place in contemporary time, with the wizarding world using medieval technology (because magic screws up electricity or something), this movie takes place in 1920s America. All the men wear casual suits, and all the women wear the flapper attire, and all the no-maj technology is stuff I've seen in history books, period piece movies, and museums. It's not like the "wizard robes" and "quill pens" that are common in Harry Potter that I can't relate too. I can go to a flee market and see what is seen in this movie (no-maj wise), so it's much easier for me to suspend my disbelief. Plus I've seen far more "physically realistic 1920s movies" than I have "physically realistic medieval movies," so again, easier to suspend disbelief. Oh, there's also the whole "no-maj" thing. I'm an American, we would say something like "no-maj" over "muggle." All the terms are "American," so it's easier for me to suspend my disbelief than with all the British slang in Harry Potter.

So what about world building? Well when I was a kid I couldn't really comprehend a "wizard world where everyone has jobs involving magic." All I could really imagine is "jobs at Hogwarts" or "jobs in Diagon ally where you sell things to magic children for Hogwarts." With this movie, I saw more of the adult wizarding world. It wasn't all "here's a boarding school, it's magic, but you don't see anything outside it often that isn't our no-maj/muggle world (the Dursleys)." With this movie on the other hand, we see magic customs, magic travelers, and what happens when magic is exposed to the no-maj world. It's really interesting. Then there's the fact that these are all experienced adult wizards. With the Harry Potter franchise, spells and magic got more complex as the characters got older, but it wasn't until the last books/movies did we really see what magic was capable of. This is to be expected since we watch the characters grow and mature in Harry Potter, but it doesn't do much for world building. However, since we're watching experienced wizards and witches, some of whom are experts in their craft, the magic is much more fast paced and epic. This leads to far more entertaining magic sequences. Then there are the fantastic beasts, a component of the Harry Potter franchise, but never fully explored until now, which really adds to what the wizarding world has to offer. And last of all, I NEED to talk about the execution. Now wizarding law and order was never completely avoided in Harry Potter (book/movie 3 is "The Prisoner of Azcaban"), but capital punishment wasn't explained from what I remember. I guess I never really thought about it, but if someone asked I would have guessed a quick "avada kadavra." I won't go into detail since this is REALLY a sight to behold, but this is probably the wizarding equivalent to "lethal injection." The movie is AMAZING world building.

So do I recommend this? Yes, yes I do. Fans of the Harry Potter franchise will enjoy the extra world building. New comers will enjoy the amazing world and easy to digest story (I saw this with my grandpa and he enjoyed it even though he's only seen maybe the first couple of movies). Seasoned critics may not enjoy it seeing that it really is just world building with simple stories, but that's perfectly fine for most people.

One thing I heard is that this is going to be a series of films. I'm not sure how I feel about that, or what that will mean. If it means "we're going to be adapting the story of other text books," I'm all over that. I'd love to see a "potions and herbology" move that showcases the start of potions and herbology, and all the cool things that come with that. Or even a "history of Hogwarts" movie since the brief bit we got in one of the main series books was quite interesting; Grifendore only wants the brave, Slytherin only wants the pure, Ravenclaw only wants the smart, and Hufflepuff wants everyone, and it's not like Grifendore was meant for heroes and Slytherin meant for villains, it just kind of worked that way. As for more adventures of Newt, ehhh, I think I've had enough of him. It's not that I don't like him, but he doesn't offer enough to carry a film franchise, at least from what I've seen so far. Oh well. We'll see. Well, this has been Pokematic, signing off, and bu-bye.

Everything Wrong With Cinemasins Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 and 2

Everything Wrong With Cinemasins Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 and 2 by catholiccontriversy

Pokematic Reviews Cherrybomb, a Rupert Grint film

If it's not a good game or catholic...who do you call?...why Pokematic. "Hi"

I just finished watching Cherrybomb, a 2010 movie staring Rupert Grint; aka. Ron from Harry Potter. Now I have to say, I don't know exactly how I feel about this movie. The story is very basic, the situations are rather common for the genre, but the acting and cinematography is amazing. Let me elaborate.

OK, so this is a coming of age story, at least by my definition. Literary people would probably argue not, but for me, any story that is about the antics of teens is coming of age. Right off the bat, I have to say that this is a little typical of Rupert from my perspective. The other non-Harry Potter movie of his I saw was also a coming of age story, driving lessons. That movie was really good from what I remember. Also, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with "the coming of age" story. I love stories like The Breakfast Club and Boy Meets World, but hate stories like Catcher in the Rye and Juno. The coming of age story is a very difficult story to tell, mainly because it relies on being able to connect with the characters, and since everyone is different, it's not easy. But I digress, back to the review.

So as a coming of age story, it's really simple; Rupert is a teen in I'm guessing high school, he has a best friend that may or may not be a bad influence, he chases after a girl doing crazy things, these crazy things get him in trouble, and has a jerk boss he doesn't like, and the boss happens to be the girls father. It's basic stuff. I've seen this story hundreds of times. It's definitely not groundbreaking in any sense of the word.

OK, so the story is basic, but as any writer will tell you, "it's not the story, it's the execution." This is true. Star Wars would be very bad if the execution was terrible, and The Social Network would have been much better if the execution was better. So, what does Cherrybomb offer in terms of execution? Well, the best friend is a drug dealer and the dad is a drug addict, and the best friend is basically his father's keeper. The role reversal is very interesting and is handled really well. Otherwise though, the execution is pretty basic. The boys are hanging out at Rupert's job, the girl comes to see her dad, they want her and she leads them on, they do some crazy things to try and impress her, dad doesn't like girl hanging out with the boys, etc. It's nothing super impressive and has already been done before. Just feels like high school stories.

The characters are a little hard to peg. The girl is the new girl, a little wild side, sent to live with her father, and the main love interest. The boss is a basic jerk boss and father, not over protective but present. The friend's dad, outside of being the "child of his son," is a very typical drug addict. Rupert is interesting enough. The audience wonders "what makes him tick? Is he a 'good kid that decides to reject authority' or is he a 'kid that accepts authority for survival but isn't afraid to challenge it?'" Well, that's how I felt. The friend is a complex character, mainly because he has a very difficult family life with his druggie dad and unsupportive brother, and being the man of the house while also being the dead-end friend. Since Rupert and his friend are the main characters, it's good that they are interesting enough. They aren't fresh and innovative, but they aren't stale.

This movie won't engage you from a story telling perspective, but it will engage you from a technical perspective. I'm probably going to get terms wrong, but bear with me. First off, the acting is phenomenal. They feel like uninterested, interested, teens. What do I mean by that? Teal teens have a special kind of emotion; a lack of emotion. Not "flat, monotone acting" lack of emotion, but a "I really don't care" kind of emotion. It's not an emo "I hate the world, life is meaningless" lack of caring, just that "it's not part of my world" lack of caring. When the actors are not in an emotional moment, like when the friend's dad is being trouble, they emote the "teen lack of emotion" emotion perfectly. Other emotions like anger feel real as well. These guys know their acting.

Then there's the cinematography. This is really amazing. The camera angles, how shots are framed, the lighting, the way the sound behaves in the environment, it's all great. There's not much to look at in terms of scenery, because it's just urban environments, but the way in which the characters were shown in the environments and the way the environments were framed was great. Based on the depth the characters were in the scene determined how loud they came off. The lighting really conveyed how the characters were feeling. Then there was the "slow down montage" effect from when the characters were on drugs. That can go bad really quickly, but it was done so well that it never did. It was artsy, but not to artsy, like Fight Club.

So, is this worth it? It's hard to say. If you really enjoy coming of age stories that have been done a million times, then you'll love it. If you can appreciate great acting and cinematography and can overlook a derivative story, you can enjoy the presentation. If neither of these sound interesting, stay away. This has been Pokematic, signing off and bu-bye.

Pokematic Harry Potter and the deathly Hallows part 2 review

This was an amazing movie. The special effects were amazing. The trueness to the story was great. (Here for the search teaser)

If it's not a good game or catholic...Who do you call?...Why Pokematic "hi."

How often does a great end to a great series come along? Not often I can tell you. And that is exactly what Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was. I recently just saw Harry Potter and the Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, Part 2, or HP8 as I like to abbreviate. I saw it in IMAX at the Henry Ford in 3D. But I talk about that in the personal blog here. So now on to the actual review.

Let me start with the technical stuff first because once I get to story, there will be spoilers. Now like many Harry Potter movies, this had beautiful visuals. And as I mentioned, it was in 3D IMAX. I have always seen the Potter movies in IMAX, and it is always good as such. There's just something about seeing everyone with 10 ft faces. And the 3D was surprisingly good. I'm not sure if it was shot in 3D or was post production, but they did a good job with it. I'll talk about one particular scene later in the spoilers part. Then at the beginning, when it opens up with the Warner Brothers logo and the title of the movie, they changed the music so it was creepier.

And speaking of creepy, this movie will keep you on the edge of your seat and I felt like all this was going down. I swear it got colder in that theater at times. Shivers went down my spine. I almost cried because of the pain that was caused in one scene. If a movie can evoke those kinds of emotions, it's some quality story telling.

If you wish to stop now before the spoilers, this was an amazing end to a great series. I highly recommend it to every fan and passive follower.
Now on to the story part.
Major Spoiler Alert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK, the last film ended with Voldemort taking the elder wand. And at the beginning of this film it started out with a flashback of that scene. Then it jumps to Doby's grave and Harry was right up there with it. He then goes and sees the goblin that takes Harry, Ron, and Hermione to Bellatrix's vault. Which might I say, was an amazing scene. It had a first person element and looked amazing.

What am I doing? This film follows the book so well you could read that and you would know what was happening. They changed a few things to make the movie run faster, but they weren't super important.

One really cool thing was when Harry or his friends would destroy a horcrux, there would be a cut to Voldemort and show him getting weaker. That was really cool.

The break down in Hogwarts was really cool. Snape had all the students gather in the great hall to try to find the whereabouts of Harry, when out of no where, Harry steps forward and along with some Order members, reclaim the castle. That was really cool. Then everyone sets up defences. All the teachers set up this shield spell and Magonigle enchants these statues to defend

Well I guess now is as good a time as any to mention the pencive scene. Now this was a cool creative liberty that I think worked really well. In the book when Snape gave Harry the memory that explained everything, it was on the tip of Snapes wand and it was so large the flask nearly couldn't hold all of it. But in the movie, it was a tear. Snape was crying and that was the memory, and it fit nicely in the vile. That was a nice touch. Now on to the actual memory it's self. Like I mentioned earlier, the entire movie was in good 3D. Well for the pencive scene with all the recalling, everything was in 2D. And not bad Last Airbender supposed to be 3D but nothing was done so now the screen just is blurry. This was clear, I can take my glasses off 2D. That gave a nice comparison to the lush 3D real world to the flat 2D memory world. And not only did they do a good job casting a believable young Snape, but also included the sorting hat scene of Harry being sorted from HP1 and the oclemency scene from HP5. That surprised me and was really cool since they had the memory smoke boarder.

One thing that both my mom and I was hoping for was this one line from the big end fight scene between good people and death eaters. It is when Bellatrix Lastrange is fighting Ginny Weasly. In the book Mrs Weasly jumps in and yells "not my daughter you bitch." Thankfully that was left in, and not blotched. You could feel the mama bear in Mrs Weasly in those few words.

There was one thing that I was slightly irked with, and that was the lack of the christian allegory at the end with Harry being a Christ figure. For a full explanation given by catholiccontriversy, click here. It's the fourth video. But that was the book, and I felt they didn't do a good job conveying that. And this isn't English class Bull, Rowling made it quite obvious I feel. But I'll talk about the King's Cross scene. Originally when Harry dies, he goes to a place that reminds him of Kings Cross train station. And they do that in the movie I feel quite well. Originally he finds basically a random dead guy who is lost, but in the movie, it was the piece of Voldemort that was in Harry. Really cool. There Harry finds Dumbledoor, in a white robe, in an all white world. Normally that would be bad, but in this land of after death, it works. A kind of funny thing was how we had the polarized video, there was dirt or something on the right lens causing a few black spots and it could only really be seen in that scene because of the white. But it was polarized spots because if I closed my right eye, it wasn't there in the left picture.

I failed to mention the part about how before Harry dies, he gets the resurrection stone and brings back the ghosts of his lost friends, and HIS PARENTS. This was the first ever conversation he's had with them, and it was done quite well.

Harry comes back to life for a final dual with Voldemort. As us book readers know, there wasn't much to the final dual with Voldemort. In fact it wasn't explained quite well what happened either. Well this time around, it was drawn out into an epic battle that took place all over the castle, or what was left of it. Voldemort still kind of just dies, but he gets pealed away into nothing.

One thing I was a bit concerned about was the epilogue scene where Harry and Ginny, along with Ron and Hermione, send their kids off to Hogwarts. Harry and Ginny get married and Ron and Hermione get married and have kids. I was kind of wondering how they would make them look older, and they did wonderfully. I believed they were in their thirties.

It is a great movie and I recommend all fans and passive followers see it. This has been Pokematic signing off, and bu-bye.

Pokematic Reviews Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows part 1

Pokematic reviews Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows part
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(SPOILER) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows part 1 review
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The Truth about Harry Potter

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Is Harry Potter Evil?
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The truth about Harry Potter part 1
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