I watched the movie back in 2016, when it was just released, and believe you me I wasn't impressed. But then again, I never were heavily into the "Harry Potter" universe that Rowling has created.

But I sat down in 2022 to watch "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" again, deciding to start over and actually catch up on the two sequel movies that I hadn't seen either. So of course I started from the beginning to get up to speed.

Now, I didn't particularly enjoy the 2016 movie "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" from writer J. K. Rowling and director David Yates. But I guess 6 years softened me up a bit, as I found a bit more enjoyment in the movie the second time around. Hold your horses, because I am not won-over, nor would I consider myself a fan.

The storyline in "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" is adequate. I mean, it is not a movie that requires the audience to invest their heart and soul, so you can essentially just lean back and munch on your snacks while you watch the movie. I found the storyline to be boring the first time around, and now in 2022 I found it a bit more interesting. It still wasn't a riveting storyline that had me on the edge of my seat though.

Visually then "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" is great. It was so back in 2016, and it is still in 2022. So if for nothing else, then you certainly are in for quite a visual CGI treat if you sit down to watch "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them".

Something that is impressive in "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", is the cast list. They certainly had managed to put together rather extensive cast ensemble with lots of talented actors and actresses. While I didn't really care much for the character Newt, then actor Eddie Redmayne actually put on a convincing and good performance as Newt. The movie also have the likes of Dan Fogler, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, Jon Voight, Gemma Chan, Ron Perlman, and Johnny Depp on the cast list.

"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" certainly is a movie that would have an appeal to the fans of the "Harry Potter" franchise, of that I am quite certain.

My rating of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Not being a fan of the universe that Rowling created and not much of a fan of "Harry Potter" as such, then I had very little interest in watching "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" actually, but I had the chance and went to watch it with my wife.

And while she found it to be a good movie and enjoyed it, then I was in the opposite side. I didn't enjoy "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" one bit.

Sure this movie was amazingly great and astounding to look at visually. And believe you me that there was not spared on the special effects and the visuals in this movie. The CGI effects in "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" was off the charts. And that alone is almost enough to make it worthwhile to watch the movie, almost...

What deterred me was how the was the amazingly boring storyline. It took forever for nothing to happen, and that was a massive anchor around the movie, dragging it down to the point where it became unbearable to witness.

It seemed like the entire movie was just a stream of random scenes put together, in no particular order, for making a complete movie. There was a disturbing lack of a red thread throughout the course of this movie.

As for the acting, well they surely had managed to get some great names and talents along for the ride, but the pick for the lead role was a bit beyond my comprehension, because Eddie Redmayne seemed to be as lost in the story as the rest of the audience. He stuck out like a sore thumb among the likes of Colin Farrell and Dan Fogler.

I walked out on the movie shortly after 50 minutes into the movie, when the main character started to do a mating dance. That was just the pinnacle of ridiculousness and I tossed the towel in the ring at that point. It was just too much.

I am sure that there definitely is a massive fan flock for this movie, given the success of the "Harry Potter" movies (and books),however it was just a swing and a miss for my part.

I have to say that I am really disappointed of the movie as a whole. The Harry Potter movies are easily one of the best and most rewatchable movie franchises so far. And this movie is sadly nothing like the original HP movies. The only thing that is has in common are the special effects (for the apparitions). There was no real dialogue between the characters. Just silly one-liners and the occasional humorous remark. I am also very angered by the fact that they just introduced a new concept (obscurials) to the HP franchise that would literally change everything (if obscurials exist why hasn't Harry Potter become one? After all he fits the criteria).

There was also way too much CGI in the movie. It became a real nuisance after a while. Especially because it wasn't even "up to today's standards".

My final critique concerns the overall flair of the movie. It just didn't feel like it belongs to the magnum opus that is the HP movie franchise. And righteously so; why did they film it in NYC? The HP franchise is the most British thing since James Bond and Doctor Who. I never really realized it before but now that I watched this movie it became very clear to me. You can't just change the location like this and expect the audience to embrace it. Sorry. What's next? Fantastic Beasts in Japan? No thanks. We already have that, it's called Kaiju.