The strength of this franchise has always been the beautiful, imaginative and whimsical world of beasts. The CGI is stunningly crafted. The interaction between actors and imaginary beasts isn’t always seamless, though, and the handling of the Qilin by either actor fell short of believability. Neither seemed to know where it began or ended. This was true of other animals as well, so, what were supposed to be tender moments felt like groping in the dark.

As much as I like Eddie Redmayne, his character felt trapped in his shyness this film with no highs or lows that contributed to the flow of the action. I felt Ezra Millers’ Credence was much better drawn this outing and I felt his struggle. The longing of Jacob for Queenie and her internal struggle were beautifully written and performed.

Overall, I feel this film was so much better than the last film, has many of the strengths of the first film, but the wizarding battles were so much just batting around wands and tearing things up (that eventually were magically restored) that there never felt like there was real peril. Similarly, I felt the plot and mystery was laboured and flat. Movies this grand have so much potential, that to turn out just “good” seems such a let down, but I give this film a 7 (good) out of 10. [Fantasy Adventure]