Episode #305: Fantastic Beasts Movie Review (SPOILERS!)


– Our spoiler-filled review of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them!
– Those opening credits! We’re back in the wizarding world (with no expectations) and it’s massively refreshing!
– Our initial thoughts on Newt, Tina, Jacob, Queenie, Graves and Creedence
– Another wizarding family gets name-dropped (and its not the Dumbledores)
– Obscurus: say what? And why this may not be the first time we’ve encountered one!
– Inside the Newtcase: will the beasts be used to fight in the future?
– Even thought we’re leaving New York, have we seen the end of certain characters?
– We breakdown the clues leading up to the big reveal!
– We anticipate Nifflers and Bowtruckles will top fan holiday wish lists

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Running time: 59:10, 38 MB

9 Comments

  1. I backhanded my friend in the chest harder than intended when we got the information about Obscurials, because I was so excited about the possible connection to Ariana, so I’m totally with you guys there. My theory- if this was the case with Ariana, then perhaps Dumbledore learning of Grindelwald’s intentions to make use of such a child for his nefarious deeds will eventually be the motivating factor that leads Dumbledore to finally intercede. We never get a very specific reason for Dumbledore taking action in the series, other than Grindelwalds deeds just becoming too terrible to ignore. Plus, it would add another layer of conflict to their relationship, and would make Ariana’s role and subsequent death all the more significant. I cannot wait to see this movie again!

    1. Only thing that seems weird to me about this: Dumbledore expicitly says in HP that he doesn’t, to this day, know which one of them cast the curse that killed Ariana.
      Possibly, Grindelwald figures it out, while Dumbledore doesn’t, but in that case it wouldn’t make sense if Grindelwald openly use obscurials, while Dumbledore never figures it out. Dumbledore’s a smart guy, he might have been slightly lost at the time, but he’s had a whole life to think about this. Also, he’s friendly with Newt, he would know that obscurials aren’t long gone.

  2. I can’t stand Johnny Depp’s makeup in this movie, true its not his most over-the-top appearance but it’s still so off putting compared to the more realistic American wizards. Also Dumbledore had to have better taste than that mustache. At my theater several people were laughing at Depp’s reveal, myself included, over how silly his makeup was.

  3. You guys touched on pretty much every question/idea I had about the movie (ESPECIALLY Queenie’s legilemency and the obscurus) except for a couple things.
    First, the use of apparition in the movie struck me as a little odd, because to my understanding to apparate you have to vividly imagine where it is you’re apparating to, and quite a few times I noticed characters apparating to places they’d presumably never been.
    Secondly, just as Jacob’s memory may not have been completely modified, I don’t think the younger Shaw brother’s would have been either. Clearly he had a lot of disdain for his brother, and seeing his downfall coupled with being right about the existence of witches probably would not constitute as a bad memory for him, so I would think he would have the same degree of recollection as Jacob, which could potentially cause problems in the later movies.
    I can’t believe I’ve been into the series for fourteen years and just now started listening to this podcast, but keep up the fantastic work, guys.

  4. SPOILERS! (obviously :D) I think the venom got into their water. And the scenes that showed them inside taking showers and drinking water are for showing that that is how the memory of the people that were inside got erased. Jacob did not drink the water or take a shower until that moment as far as we know so that’s why his memory was not erased.

    1. And even though they might not get to everyone in that exact moment, everyone will be exposed to water in some form in the span of a day or so.

  5. The obscurial he met in Sudan did die! Newt tears up about it – the girl dies and he separates them while trying to save her, leaving him with only the obscurus.

  6. Ok, I’ve just seen it for the 2nd time and upon this viewing I thought a lot about the dynamic of Graves and Tina. For the first half of the film, Tina is skiddish/vulnerable and trying so to hard to do the “right thing” that she seems to not always do the smart thing, or have the confidence to assert herself. My theory is that working alongside Graves/Grindelwald has really messed with her as he has subtly degraded her and possibly manipulated her. Maybe he wanted her to look into the Scond Salemers (for his purpose of locating “the child”) and urged her to Investigate despite Madam Piquery’s orders. Or, maybe she was getting too close to the Salemers and it was Graves who gave the order for her to stay away. Either way, I think there is a damaging dynamic there, that we see in particular in the interrogation scene when Graves silences Tina. It’s such a commanding gesture and she obeys so quickly, almost automatically. It made me uncomfortable and curious. Obviously he is an evil guy but I think a lot of women could relate to a bad workplace dynamic that slowly erodes your confidence. I loved watching her open up to Newt as the film progressed and thought she and Eddie had great chemistry in their final scene together.

  7. I think there is history between Leta Lestrange and Newt Scamander… my theory is this: Leta wasn’t a Slytherin, maybe Ravenclaw and she was friends with Newt. Then an accident happened and Newt took the blame for it and was expelled. And maybe he had feelings for her and she didn’t, because, well she is a Lestrange 😉 And I also liked the theory that the ‘Obliviate – Poison’ didn’t take all of Jacobs memories cause it was a good memory and that poison only took the bad ones.

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