FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM [2016]

After a rather dull outing with Tarzan, director David Yates wisely returns to J.K. Rowling's cinematic Wizardry World with the first part of a prequel series, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Inspired by Rowling's fictional Wizardry school textbook, set in the 1920's, the film follows a British wizard in New York City who accidentally lets loose a suitcase full of magical beasties of all shapes and sizes.
The film doesn't require you to know anything about the previous Hogwart's stories so it's easy to enjoy on it's own.  Though none of the characters aren't as instantly as memorable as the Harry Potter gang none of them are as irksome as some were either.  The plot hits a couple speedbumps in favor of dazzling you with bizarre creatures and their antics but when it's moving it really impresses with dazzling set-pieces and imagination.  It's not perfect but it makes me eager to see what worlds the expanded universe takes us to.

3½ No-Maj's out of 5

THE LEGEND OF TARZAN [2016]

Director David Yates take a very brief break from the wizarding world of Hogwarts to visit the Lord of the Jungle in The Legend of Tarzan.
After years of living as a domesticated gentleman, Tarzan, along with his wife Jane, head back to the jungle to investigate some shady mining camps where his savage past creeps up on him, loin cloth and all.
It might be a fresh change from the usual summer aliens, robots and superheroes but Yates' film is an uninspired bore.  The characters are dull as dirt, the CGI is laughably artificial and Samuel L. Jackson's soul-brotha enunciation is awkwardly out of place.   Without a whole lot of rousing action sequences the glaring missteps are all the more apparent and hurt the clunky pacing even more.

2 adorable cat-ear hoodies out of 5