Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them (2016)

Pokemon meets Harry Potter in this 2016 adaptation of J K Rowling's book about a Doctor Who-like 'magizoologist', who appears to be constipated, who carries creatures around in a Tardis-like suitcase - there's lots of Potterverse references to delight fans but little for anyone else to care about and just as you resign yourself to the idea the movie is simply about enjoying the spectacle of fantastic beasts running amok in New York, there comes a "big reveal" that suggests you were supposed to have paid closer attention to things afterall.

★★☆☆☆

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Mission: Impossible (1996)

Heralding a Hollywood trend that continues today (that of television series being reinvented as mega movies) Brian de Palma's Mission: Impossible made a big impact with its big name stars - Tom Cruise, Kirstin Scott Thomas, Jon Voight - and with its tv-style credit opening, with its thrilling plot and set pieces on a scale far bigger than its tv namesake, and it paved the way for three lesser sequels and a slew of similarly big budget 80s-tv inspired blockbusters (Charlies Angels, A Team, Lost In Space, Miami Vice...)

★★★★☆

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