Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them Review: 4 Ups & 6 Downs

5. Poor Pacing & A Lack Of Urgency

You wouldn't think this was the first entry into a new franchise of movies, because it kicks off sluggishly and never really finds the right momentum.

The first half of the movie in particular is low-energy and low-stakes, yet when some actual conflict finally shows up, it's dragged out to the point that the audience may very well stop caring.

It never really feels especially exciting or urgent, and there's a good chance you'll feel every one of those 133 minutes by the time the credits roll.

This really needed to hit the ground running in order to keep the lucrative casual audiences on the hook for more movies, but in that regard it may have already failed.