Review of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them -- Movie

Yesterday, a wizard entered New York with a case. A case full of magical creatures. And unfortunately, some have escaped.

For all the potter fans out there you will NOT want to be Obliviated after watching this new film. Its in 3D and IMAX, all the creatures come to life and you can almost touch them. It can turn all the adults into kids within seconds, I myself was squealing and weeping when the title of the movie was displayed on the screen and the Harry Potter's signature tune was being played in the background. I grew up reading and watching Harry potter movies and recently read Harry potter and the cursed child.

The movie starts off with a glimpse of Grindelwald unleashing a spell and then cut to Newt entering New York in the 1926 by ship. He is also carrying a mysterious suitcase that is home to dozens of magical creatures. He somehow manages to get it exchanged with a No-Mag (Whaaaa...oh wait Muggles...okay okay Now I get it) Mr No-Mag aka Jacob Kowalski wants to open a bakery (Yummy!) but sadly has no collateral to offer to the bank so that they can provide him with a loan. Now he is a very typical comical side-kick to our hero Newt (and kind-a reminds me of Ron Weasley). Newt also makes acquaintances with Miss Porpentina "Tina" Goldstein (yeah she might be slightly Hermoine-ish) and her sister Queenie Goldstein. Queenie can read minds, well not British peoples minds properly, errr well because of their accents (Can you blame her?). She reads Newts mind and discovers that he liked a woman by the name of.........wait for it........drum roll please.....Leta...No wait you don't know who she is do you? oh silly me I forgot, did I tell you her last name...its...Lestrange!!! woah goosbumps. Why Lestrange, Newt, why??

Mr Kowalski inadvertently opens the exchanged suitcase and a few of the magical creatures escape. Our team of four heroes have several adventures while trying to capture all the creatures that escaped, from central park to Macy's department store. Meanwhile there is something else lurking out in the streets of New York, wrecking havoc. Percival Graves who is the Director of Magical Security for MACUSA (The Magical Congress of the United States of America) is trying to find a child with the help of a boy named Credence. Credence is the adopted son of a woman who claims that magic and witches exist and calls her group as the The Second-Salemers. The viewers are slowly slipped an Easter egg when Graves gives Credence a necklace with the Deathly Hallows symbol.

Does Newt manage to capture all his escaped beasts? What is the mysterious creature that is haunting New York? Will magic be exposed to No-Mags (Muggles)? And most importantly who is Percival Graves?

Also Albus Dumbledore name pops up once in between. The readers of the series know that he and Grindelwald have a fight and Dumbledore defeats him. So wonder if they will bring it in the future films. There is going to be 4 more films, 5 in total. And I am sure after watching this one, you will be eagerly waiting for the next one. 

We're going to recapture my creatures before they get hurt. They're currently in alien terrain surrounded by millions of the most vicious creatures on the planet; humans. 

Review of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child -- Book

 Sometimes costs are made to be borne

 
I must say procuring this book was an adventure in itself. I had pre-ordered this book and they did not deliver as promised. But I still managed to grab it on the same day as it was released -- 31st July 2016. A day I and several Harry Potter fans were waiting for anxiously. I was both excited and nervous. Excited because I was reading a new Harry Potter, after such a long time, and nervous because I was worried it wouldn't meet my expectations.

The book is a play based on a story by J.K Rowling and John Tiffany, written by Jack Thorne. It is a complete script with only dialogues and very few description of the characters or the surroundings. If you (like me) haven't seen the play or will not be able to watch it in the near future, then you have to heavily rely on your previous readings to get the feel of the environment.

Most parts of the book made me feel nostalgic and emotional, especially when I read about Harry, who is now the Head of Magical Law Enforcement, facing struggles at work and with his son, Albus. Hermoine is the Minister of Magic and Ron runs Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Harry's wife Ginny writes the sports section of the Daily Prophet. McGonagall is now the Headmistress at Hogwarts. The book starts off where Deathly hallows left, and takes you through a very familiar world. Harry and Albus do not see eye to eye and Draco and his son Scorpius are also not on good terms, especially after his mother Astoria passes away.

Albus is worried he will be sorted into Slytherin at the start of his school year and his fears are soon realized. He becomes friends with Scorpius, who is rumored to be the son of Voldemort. They fail to make other friends and mainly stay within themselves, much to the chagrin of Harry. Both are considered the outcasts and Albus especially turns into this brooding teenager who has daddy issues. Scorpius is the comic relief and in no way the side kick, and he has a bit of Hermoine in him. Albus is more like his dad adventurous, loyal and a bit reckless. Albus develops a crush on Delphi, who is Cedric's cousin. Yes that poor Cedric Diggory, who lost his life during the Triwizard Tournament (Goblet of fire). Most of the story revolves around Cedric.

While the boys are facing their own problems, Harry is facing his own demons. His scar starts to hurt again and he starts dreaming again of Voldemort calling to him. This sent chills down my spine. Lets see- Voldemort, Umbridge and Bellatrix would come in my top three most hated villains of all time, and the name calling was a bit too much (Harrrryyy Potterrrr). Like always no one believes him when he says that Voldemort is back(is he really?), just like they did not believe him the first time.

All I can say is that while reading the book I was nervous and excited for all the adventures and it made me feel like a kid again, this time with Albus and Scorpius not with Harry, Hermoine and Ron. Overall I was satisfied, it did not make me hate Harry or any of his friends(phew!) or any of the writers.

A must read for all Harry Potter fans, I am sure you will not be disappointed. Many of your questions will be answered. Is Scorpius really Voldemort's child? Did Voldemort have a child? and most of all Who is this mysterious Delphi?

The main moral of this book and all Harry Potter books is only one - Cherish your friends and their friendship and remain loyal to them.

Mischief Managed

(SPOILER ahead - highlight to read)
Every important character of the Potterverse  makes a cameo appearance in the book. Some we love (Snape - Yayyy and Cedric) and some we hate(Umbridge - Ughhh). There were some time tested formulas used, like writing on the blanket for the future Harry to read. I felt this book bought us to a complete circle and gave us closure, the story began in Godric's Hollow and ended it there. Harry watching as Voldemort attacks his parents and his helplessness would bring a tear to anybody's eye.

Review of X-Men: Apocalypse -- Movie

Some believe that the first mutant was born thousands of years ago. He was some kind of god, and he's going to rise again.

Long long time ago, there was the very first mutant, En Sabah Nur aka Apocalypse (Poe is that you?), who is betrayed by his followers and buried alive. But not before one of his horsemen die protecting him. So you of course DO NOT want to wake this guy up right? But then what's the use of superheroes if they do not have a super villain to fight. And this super villain is awesome!! The friendly mutants have to fight the not so friendly mutants. We know that Apocalypse has been alive for a very long time and every time he rises he recruits 4 horsemen (Holy cow!) So how does he manage to remain alive you say? Well he kind of transports himself to another mutant's body and then take on their powers as well (Boo Yah!) This time he recruits Storm (No storm Noo...I thought you were one of the good guys...sniff), Magneto (who has a love hate relationship with Prof X), Psylocke and Angel (mutant birdie).

Enough about the villains, lets come to our heroes. I still cant come to terms with Prof X (James McAvoy...sigh) having so much hair, but sadly its gone in the end (Ouch). I thought that he had same problems like us, a receding hairline. But nooo, he has mutant problems, major mutant problems.

The film takes place in 1983, where we are introduced to Scott Summers, and way to take care of a high school bully, good on you Scott. His brother Alex brings him to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, where in a very dramatic (boy meets girl) sequence Scott meets Jean (love at first sight?...nah Scott has his eyes bandaged). By the way 1983 was the year that Return of the Jedi was released. When Scott, Jean, Jubilee and Nightcrawler bunk school and visit a mall (lets go to the mall...Today...arghhhh HIMYM hangover!), they watch star wars and Jean says the third movie is always the worst (Teee hee hee)

Comic relief comes in the form of Nightcrawler and Quicksilver (My Maaannnnn!!). Quicksilver's sequences of saving everyone (and some goldfish!) from a crumbling X mansion and kicking Apocalypses' ass are EPIC! And Prof X stalking Moira MacTaggert! (a CIA agent he met and fell in love with in the X-men: First Class). So Facebook did not exist then, yet he stalks her via Cerebro. Also Apocalypse might be an old dude but he sure knows how to hack Cerebro. Raven, Jean and Storm are the bad-ass girls of this movie, who have their own butt kicking moments(Ohh Yeahhh). And Jean turning into the Phoenix (Girl power!) And a brief (but Oh-my-freakin-awesome) cameo by the man himself Wolverine (Hugh Jackman...droool). Scott says "Hope its the last we see of this guy"(Yeah right Scott...Dream on)

You have to watch the movie if you are a X-Men fan. Because the story line is clean and the background stories are perfectly coordinated. You should watch it for Magneto and Quicksilver(who is much better than Peter Maximoff in the Avengers). You can even watch it if you have never seen any of the X-Men movies, but if you have you will understand the subtle hints throughout. Also watch it for Prof X who gets his legs back for a small time. Why is quicksilver so keen on finding Magneto? Why did a good working class guy (who actually saved a guy from being killed) turn into Magneto? Does the guy on the roof finally kiss the girl (Ewwwww)? Do the X-Men save the world once again? Watch it and find out.

Also please wait for the end of credits scene, it tells us who might be the villain in the next Wolverine movie (MUHAHAHA).

Raven: Forget everything you think you know, you're not students anymore! You're X-Men!