Fantastic Creatures movie review. The child is in all of us

” – Is this really happening or is it just happening in my head? – Of course it’s happening in your head, Harry. But does that mean it’s not really happening?” This quote from the recent film about the adventures of a young wizard from Hogwarts can be used as the slogan “Fantastic Beings.” Because although imaginary friends are just a product of children’s imagination, the feelings that children have for them are very real. John Krasinski, who encourages us to find our inner child, doesn’t try creative He deals with the subject matter, but he does so so efficiently that it is difficult not to describe his film as charming and refreshing.

teen pia (Kylie FlemingAfter her mother died, she lost her childhood joy and worries. She isolated herself from the world and from her loved ones. She hasn’t had time to overcome her trauma yet, and life throws another obstacle in her way. When the girl’s father (John Krasinski) She goes to the hospital for heart surgery, and Bea temporarily moves in with her grandmother (Fiona Shaw). At her apartment house in New York, she meets her eccentric neighbor, Cal…Ryan Reynolds), who turns out to be…an agent of forgotten imaginary friends.

Friendly creatures remain idle for a period of time after their young companions have grown up and driven their imaginary companions from their minds. The children’s imaginations try to find their new guardians with Cal’s help, although this is not an easy task. Despite initial doubts, Bea becomes increasingly involved in rescuing the isolated creatures. Thanks to this, the teenager regains the joy of life, finds purpose and comes to the conclusion that the strategy of constantly denying the child brings more losses than benefits.

Great idea, although not fully realized

In John Krasinski’s film, the theme of finding the inner child within oneself resonates loudest. Directors have shown this opposition to abandoning childhood fantasies and dreams many times in cinema. The author of Fantastic Objects tends to repeat existing narratives and rarely tries to innovate.

Aside from the interesting and intriguing starting point of course Concept. The plot focused on abandoned IFs (the fantastic beings in Polish don’t fully reflect the English original – the imaginary friends) and the slightly temperamental guardian is an excellent excuse to explore this topic. However, Krasinski doesn’t fully exploit his story’s potential.

After a great showing, “Beings of…” loses some pace in the middle act, and the director (and screenwriter) has major problems establishing emotional and plot accents. Krasinski unexpectedly simplifies and shortens themes that might require further development, while less engaging themes are withdrawn and—worse still—repeated. Of course, this is an evaluation only from the point of view of an adult viewer. Children are unlikely to notice this drop in quality, because their attention will be actively drawn to the on-screen creatures and visual fireworks.

However, when the moment comes when the story needs proper closure and emotionally compelling, Krasinski and his team rise to the challenge. The final act of “Beings…” is full of emotion, and there’s even a plot twist – predictable, but beautifully presented, and Ryan Reynolds finally gets a real role to play, because for most of the film he gives the impression that he’s looking for something for himself. In this project. You have to applaud the creators who delivered this story on time and in one piece, despite some delays along the way.

Perfect picture, even better music

At the same time, not only the imitation of this film, but also its visual layer is composed of several pieces. Even before the premiere of “FantasticBeings,” there were voices saying that it would be a “live-action Pixar film” style project. In fact, we are dealing with a mixture of feature films and animation. Usually such connections involve a lot of risks, but in this case everything went without any fraud. The created animated characters are perfectly integrated into a realistic background. There is absolutely no conflict between the real actors and the computer-generated characters.

The creatures on screen are sure to arouse sympathy from younger viewers (I myself became a fan of “Mr. Glass” after the film, and – again using the original English version – the Snowman). And it’s not even about introducing these diverse characters, it’s about the way the creators of “Beings…” harnessed the potential of the film format. The musical scene from the middle act will delight little ones, and the shots with Fiona Shaw dancing will appeal to adult viewers.

This movie looks flawless. What does his voice sound like? Famous! Michael Giacchino’s music adds emotion where the script lacks. The main theme, even if intrusively repeated, Yasser It stays in your head long after the session. It’s hard for me to remember a family movie with such great music.

Returning to the above-mentioned pieces from which John Krasinski wove his film. The conference itself includes elements of social cinema, youth films, children’s animation and comedy. This combination works flawlessly, although I have some reservations about the last ingredient. One can expect a barrage of jokes from the duo of Krasinski and Reynolds. And ones that adults will enjoy too. However, this is missing in “Objects…”. Or in other words: we have a clear deficit in this. As a fan of “The Office,” I would of course like to see a wise-cracking, “joking” Jim Halpert behind the camera, but at the same time I’m not surprised that Krasinski tries to avoid this image in his film. There are, of course, plenty of funny moments, but it’s not a comedy that will make you cry.

Polish dubbing is very good, but…

I have another problem with “Fantastic Objects”. And it probably wouldn’t have bothered me so much if I hadn’t looked at the end credits. The Polish dubbing is generally more than decent. Sabina Bednarz (B), Piotr Polak (Kal), Włodzmierz Matuszak (Louis) and especially Władysław Grzona (Blue) sound really good. Hats off to them and I appreciate their amazing work, but I’d happily pay double the ticket price to hear Steve Carell voice the giant furry creature, or Phoebe Waller-Bridge bringing the Blossom doll to life, or Louis Gossett Jr. In Lewis’s Teddy Bear, he spoke to the audience in this way for the last time before his death.

Unfortunately, the film’s distributor did not provide a copy with subtitles. And I was at peace with it until I finally saw the credits in which a galaxy of stars voiced the cartoon characters in the original (Emily Blunt, Bradley Cooper, George Clooney – that’s just a modest representation of this constellation). Not to mention the fact that I couldn’t hear Reynolds or Krasinski. Not even Cailee Fleming, who was fantastic in the lead role.

It won’t make any difference to kids, but even one show with subtitles will be enjoyable for many adults. By the way, it’s worth looking at the end credits. There’s actually a Jimmy Halpert joke in there. I’ll just give you a hint that it has to do with “dubbing” the invisible Keith. I was lacking in humor during the show, but in the end, thanks to this simple trick, I laughed out loud.

“Fantastic Creatures” is one of those movies that can be watched again stipple For some other shortcomings, but that doesn’t make much sense. A nostalgic throwback to childhood – from the perspective of an adult viewer, and a wise and visually engaging story – from the perspective of a child, make Krasinski’s film seen as a magical, heart-melting production. It is worth reserving extra seats in the cinema before the screening – for our little film IF and for our film, which – thanks to “Objects…” – we may remember many years later. Or we want to find one. Because, as Krasinski knows, it’s never too late to discover your inner child.