As a dedicated Harry Potter fan, I eagerly waited for the release of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Others like me recognized the title as one of the spinoff books that Rowling wrote, a textbook that the Hogwarts students were said to have studied.
Main character Newton “Newt” Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), a wizard in 1926, travels from Britain to New York with a case containing various magical creatures. The film takes place before all of the Potter movies, the first prequel released in a series of five.
Scamander is defined as a “magizoologist,” studying the fantastic beasts that live, and eventually, explore the various places in New York. His companions, including the two magical sisters Porpentina “Tina” Goldstein (Katherine Waterson) and Queenie Goldstein (Alison Sudol) who both reside in Wizarding, New York and work in the secret wizarding government. An everyday man, Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler) gets thrown into the mix among these characters.
An awkward jump from the happy-go-lucky chasing of beasts to the discovery of dark magic seems to separate the movie into two sections. Darker themes found in the“second half” include indicated child abuse and some violence, the reasoning behind the PG-13 rating. The entire film comes across as overly busy, like Rowling’s screenwriting tried to pack in too much plot.
Regardless of an overly busy movie, Potter lovers enjoyed seeing adult characters performing magic and America’s wizarding government (the MACUSA). The special effects overall enchant, and keep the audience interested in the entirety of the story. Each member of the cast possesses different personalities and make the storyline come to life, despite the fact that the story may not live up to expectations.
Overall, I personally enjoyed the film, from the characters to the settings. The creatures each were unique and creative in design. The characters represented good qualities not always seen amongst heroes, and the plotline, even though it was packed, gave enough background and tribute to the first movies that it felt familiar. The instrumental music in the background (by James Newton Howard) lived up to the original soundtrack from the previous eight movies, welcoming all back to the world of Harry Potter.
With an five more movies to come, the script book in stores, and the continual writing on Pottermore, it does not appear that those interested will lack on new content. Next from Rowling seems to be another Fantastic Beasts movie in 2018, and, news of the Cursed Child play coming to Broadway in the same year have been released on the Pottermore Instagram. I highly recommend this movie, and I hope all, whether fans of the original series or not, take the time out to go and watch this.
For another Harry Potter article, read The Cursed Child review.
The author can be reached on Twitter: @julz_lozano19.
