Review: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Being the first movie in a new series always comes with the problem of introducing us to the new world, its rules and workings while still giving us an entertaining movie, that makes want to see more. Fantastic beast is not the first movie in this world of witches and wizards, the world of Harry Potter, but as it is the first movie of the new series, set in a different time and a different place, the problem are even bigger. The movie has to not only introduce us to all the things new, but also bridge the gap to the old movies.
Fantastic beast manages this act in a great way. By bringing in a character from the old place, Hogwarts, and having him go to the USA allows us Potterheads the feel familiar when Hogwarts or Dumbledore are mentioned and realize all the similarities and differences between the UK and the US.
And so we follow Newt Scamander (Eddy Redmayne) and his suitcase full of fantastic a weird creatures as he enters New York in the 1920s. The actual goal of his travel is soon forgotten as he gets entangled with the No-May (Muggle, non-magical people) Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler) who by accident takes his suitcase which end in some of the creatures escape. And so Newt has to not only retrieve his beasts but also uncover dark apparitions and even murders that are blamed on his creatures. Help comes in the form of ex-auror Porpentina Goldsteen (Katerine Waterston) of the US ministry of magic while the auror Percival Graves (Colin Farrel) is the closest to an antagonist we get in the movie. He is only interested in finding the root of the dark events occurring and Newt is an annoying interference.
I really liked the movie, maybe even more than others because I’m a great fan of the Harry Potter movies and books. Just being back in the world of wizardry filled me with childish glee.
The look and feel of the movie immediately reminded of the mix of playfulness and brooding dark of the Harry Potter movies. In the one scene we chase mole-like niffler through a jewelry store and in the next we see people dressed in black in a dark room with black marbled walls in dim candlelight. The monsters overall looked beautiful and unique. While the they are definitely serve as the setup and MacGuffin for some time, during its course the movie switches its attention more towards the murder and dark events that occur in New York.
Eddy Redmaynes depiction of Newt Scamander is not that of the smiling hero. He is more of a wierdo, who like his creatures more than he likes people, muggles or wizards. He doesn’t look people in the eye and clearly is uncomfortable them. But its lovable weirdness that I enjoyed, even though it took me some time to warm up to him.
The No-Maj Jacob Kowalski on the other hand I immediately loved. He is the comic relieve. The simple-hearted goof who stumbles into something way to over his head. I found Dan Foglers performance to be charming and lovable and I absolutely enjoyed discovering the world of magic with him.
Next to the plot of Newt chasing his lost beasts, the movie introduces these dark events, murders, which happen in New York. Involved in this is Credence (Ezra Miller) a troubled orphan who is adopted by the No-Maj leader of anti-witchcraft group. Ezra Miller does a great job depicting this mysterious and creepy boy that you also feel really sorry for.
Also a plotline involving Gellerd Grindelwald is introduced, even though it’s in a small portion.
The many plotlines is one of the big critiques I have with the movie. It introduces so many plots, but doesn’t have the time or doesn’t want to flesh most of them out. Some, especially the Grindelwald story is clearly meant for the later movies to come, I still felt unsatisfied with the lack of resolution.
The characters of Porpentina Goldsteen and her sister also didn’t work for me. The movies scratches at a love story, but never has the time to explore it.
There are things happening in the ministry that might also hint at more plotlines to come but I really didn’t care for the scenes. They felt rushed and unimportant for the overall movie. And there is some plot happening around Jon Voights character Henry Shaw that might lead to something or nothing, it was too little to care.
Overall however I really enjoyed the movie and I’m looking forward for more to come.
I can wholeheartedly recommend the movie for everyone who knows and likes the Harry Potter movies. For the rest it the movie might not be right film since I feels is has similar strengths and weaknesses as the HP movies.
If I really need 4 more movies as announced, I’m not sure yet. I hope the focus of the movies will transition away from the creatures. I would love to see Dumbledore introduces and have Newt as the main character be involved in the conflict between Grindelwald and Dumbledore.
My rating: 8/10
