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A review by ponch22
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay by J.K. Rowling
3.0
I wanted to read this because when I watched the movie last year, I dozed off for part of it... I figured maybe I could read what I missed, but the script isn't much better than the 2.5* film.
[a:JK Rowling|1077326|J.K. Rowling|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1415945171p2/1077326.jpg] has created an amazing world with details and history galore (see Pottermore), however, I don't really need (or want) five more mediocre films/books.
BUT this is supposed to be a review of the book, not the film.
I'm very surprised by how familiar the screenplay is. I've read other movie scripts before and I love seeing the differences between script and screen. This, however, seems to be the entire film in literal book form—no scenes left on the cutting-room floor; no alternate takes or lines; nothing but the film written for you to read.
And I think that's a real detriment. The acknowledgments section pretty much says that Rowling had a lot of help bringing this (first 20% of the) story to life. I don't need to see every draft that was ever written, but I would much rather read a shooting script to get some insight on what might have been edited in post-production...
But that's not what we get. We get the film transcribed to the page with a whole lot of extra details in the stage directions (sorry, I think there's a better phrase for these, but I'm a theatre geek at heart)—like names for all the creatures in Newt's case.
The script is fairly slow to begin with and then diverges into two separate plots. First, magizoologist, Newt Scamander, loses three magical creatures from his, bigger-on-the-inside, suitcase. With the help of two American witches and one No-Maj (American Muggle), he eventually collects them all again with not too much destruction.
Secondly, there is a strong movement to call out the witches and wizards who are hiding in NYC from a group known as the Second Salemers, and one child, with a dark, evil force hidden inside, seems to be among the Salemers.
Oh, and the book's opening scene features Grindewald escaping a European attempt to capture him, so you know he'll eventually turn up in NYC...
I suppose Rowling has some grand vision of showing the epic Dumbledore-Grindelwald battle spoken of in the Harry Potter books, but this story is just a lame setup for that story. Apparently, Newt will just so happen to be in the right part of the world as Grindelwald re-rises to power (and is eventually beaten).
The book design is lovely—every few pages has large, beautiful drawings of creatures and cityscapes (literally [b:Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them|29363501|Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them The Original Screenplay|J.K. Rowling|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1481542648s/29363501.jpg|50435175]). But I didn't want to read a picture book—I'd rather have a novel (or even a better script)...
[a:JK Rowling|1077326|J.K. Rowling|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1415945171p2/1077326.jpg] has created an amazing world with details and history galore (see Pottermore), however, I don't really need (or want) five more mediocre films/books.
BUT this is supposed to be a review of the book, not the film.
I'm very surprised by how familiar the screenplay is. I've read other movie scripts before and I love seeing the differences between script and screen. This, however, seems to be the entire film in literal book form—no scenes left on the cutting-room floor; no alternate takes or lines; nothing but the film written for you to read.
And I think that's a real detriment. The acknowledgments section pretty much says that Rowling had a lot of help bringing this (first 20% of the) story to life. I don't need to see every draft that was ever written, but I would much rather read a shooting script to get some insight on what might have been edited in post-production...
But that's not what we get. We get the film transcribed to the page with a whole lot of extra details in the stage directions (sorry, I think there's a better phrase for these, but I'm a theatre geek at heart)—like names for all the creatures in Newt's case.
The script is fairly slow to begin with and then diverges into two separate plots. First, magizoologist, Newt Scamander, loses three magical creatures from his, bigger-on-the-inside, suitcase. With the help of two American witches and one No-Maj (American Muggle), he eventually collects them all again with not too much destruction.
Secondly, there is a strong movement to call out the witches and wizards who are hiding in NYC from a group known as the Second Salemers, and one child, with a dark, evil force hidden inside, seems to be among the Salemers.
Oh, and the book's opening scene features Grindewald escaping a European attempt to capture him, so you know he'll eventually turn up in NYC...
I suppose Rowling has some grand vision of showing the epic Dumbledore-Grindelwald battle spoken of in the Harry Potter books, but this story is just a lame setup for that story. Apparently, Newt will just so happen to be in the right part of the world as Grindelwald re-rises to power (and is eventually beaten).
The book design is lovely—every few pages has large, beautiful drawings of creatures and cityscapes (literally [b:Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them|29363501|Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them The Original Screenplay|J.K. Rowling|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1481542648s/29363501.jpg|50435175]). But I didn't want to read a picture book—I'd rather have a novel (or even a better script)...