Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the epic return to the wizarding world created by J.K. Rowling. A whole decade was spent following Harry Potter and friends on their quest to defeat the Dark Lord, and bring justice to the wizarding community. Rowling's story revolutionized the lives of many, and created a fandom that continues to grow to this day. Many, like myself, grew up with this story from the release of the first book to the grand finale of the highly successful movie franchise. With the release of Fantastic Beasts, Rowling provides a new story for fans to enjoy, creating a sense of pure nostalgia for loyal fans as well as opening the door for younger generations to enter this amazing world.
At the helm of the spectacular cast is Oscar winner, Eddie Redmayne, who portrays Magizoologist Newt Scamander. For the first time, Rowling allows her story to step across European borders and into the United States. Scamander is commissioned to write a textbook on Magical Creatures to help the wizarding community better understand these creatures, instead of fearing them. In pursuit of completing this task, he travels the world, collecting various creatures in his enchanted suitcase. On his travels, he finds himself in 1920's New York, where his creatures get released on an unsuspecting No-Maj (otherwise known as muggle) population.
Scamander originally came to New York to continue his research as well as to obtain more Magical Creatures, but his original intent is altered when he makes his acquaintance with an unsuspecting No-Maj. Portrayed by Dan Fogler, Jacob Kowalski is a struggling veteran who desires to make his dreary life more extraordinary. He gets much more than he bargained for when runs into Scamander. Naturally, Scamander tells Kowalski of the wizarding world which is against the wishes of the American Wizarding Government.
As a result of this, Ex-Auror Tina Goldstein, portrayed by Katherine Waterston, brings Scamander in for questioning in hopes of restoring her title. The American Wizarding Government is on edge for there has been a dark force haunting the streets of New York, which may also be connected to attacks from the darkest wizard of the time, Grindelwald. To remove suspicion that his creatures are behind this, Scamander escapes custody and seeks to recover the creatures that have escaped from his briefcase.
This film is full of adventure and is abundant in effortless humor. There was a lot of skepticism that this film would not be a success for the reason that, any successful franchise that is continued does not hold the same quality as its predecessor. Thankfully, this was not the case. Fantastic Beasts was entirely new and original. This film almost completely departs from the original story of Harry Potter, and follows a new and likable character. Rowling has created a story that cannot be compared to books, and still manages to be fresh to fans that have been with this series since the very beginning. In addition to the fresh story, the subplots were also significant to the overall story.
This film tends to jump from the overall story of our main heroes, to another smaller subplot that seems to be unrelated. Regardless of how unrelated it seems, the subplots connect in a grand finale that foreshadows a darkness set to fall upon the wizarding world in future film installments. Not only was the story new and exciting, but the character development was superb. I found myself relating and sympathizing with many of the characters in this film, no matter how important they were to the story.
It is safe to say, without spoiling anything, Jacob Kowalski represented the audience viewing the film. Similar to the viewers of Fantastic Beasts, Kowalski was discovering the world of magic. His journey was significantly synonymous with any journey taken by fans who have stayed with this world since its birth. This film truly was more of an origin story that provided fans with a magnifying glass into this wonderful world. The animation of the creatures was truly superb. Each creature, no matter how unusual, looked real. As a viewer, you wanted to enter this fantastical world, and could easily imagine yourself walking among Scamander's vast collection.
Without giving too much away, Fantastic Beasts does carry a flaw or two. There are some moments, to the keen eye, that give away moments that were intended to be a surprise to the viewer. Also, the costume of a particular character does not seem to correlate well with potential age progression. Regardless, this film is truly fantastic, and promises an action-packed adventure for its viewer. The best aspect of Fantastic Beasts is you can still watch even if you have little to no knowledge of Rowling's wizarding world. If you are looking for a good, lighthearted adventure, please go see Fantastic Beasts. It is definitely worth your while.
Score: 8.5
