The long-awaited new film in the Harry Potter franchise arrived in movie theaters across the US on Thursday, and there have been dozens of online reviews already. The film, set in New York City in 1926, follows the story of Newt Scamander, a magizoologist who is visiting the United States for the first time to continue his worldwide studies of magical creatures. I took the first available opportunity to see it on Thursday at the 9:30pm showing and regretted nothing (except maybe the fact that I had to go to my 8am class the next morning). So how does it stack up against the rest of the Potter movies? I, for one, was delighted with the outcome, for the following reasons.
1. The Beasts
The creatures themselves were each designed thoughtfully, and the graphics were executed perfectly. The main creatures of the movie are Pickett, an adorable eight-inch tall bowtruckle who lives in Newt's pocket and has a habit of picking locks; and Frank the thunderbird, notorious for his ability to sense danger. Others include the niffler (a honey-badger-esque treasure thief), the demiguise (a small, invisible, orangutan-like animal), the occamy (a choranaptyxic dragon/bird combo), and the oh-so-cleverly-named Swooping Evil (a drogon/butterfly cross).
2. The Cast
Any cast with Johnny Depp is going to be good. It is revealed in the last ten minutes or so of the movie that Johnny Depp portrays the predecessor of Lord Voldemort, Gellert Grindelwald. And in his forty-five seconds of film time, he plays the role perfectly.
Aside from the obvious two-thumbs-up choice of Depp, Eddie Redmayne was wonderfully adorable in all the right ways. Redmayne, who is most recognizable for his roles as Marius Pontmercy in Les Miserables and Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, played magizoologist Newt Scamander. His character was goofy enough to mimic an erumpent's mating ritual, yet brave and selfless in times of great stress. The skill with which Redmayne portrayed Mr. Scamander was truly something to be admired.
3. The Themes
Perhaps the best part of the movie was how many modern-day issues the incorporated into the plot. Bigotry and hatred, ever-present in our society, were main drives of the "Second-Salemers", who are looking to expose the wizarding population so that they can drive them out. The ring leader of the group, Mary-Lou, has a few adopted children, whom she abuses. Her son Credence bears most of it, as he is hated the most by his adoptive mother. Late in the film, it is revealed to the audience that Credence is magical, and is punished for his desperate want to be part of the community his mother tells him is evil. Although we don't have witches or wizards in our daily lives, the torment and anguish that Ezra Miller brings to his performance of Credence is something that many members of the LGBTQ+ community can relate to.
Similarly, the film follows the no-majs' (non-magical people's) fear of wizards, rooted in fear of the unknown, much like a great deal of Americans are wary of those who are different, such as Muslims, African-Americans, and Latino/as.
Overall, the film was a fantastic piece of cinema with skilled actors, magnificent special effects, and a focus on relevant societal issues: things that we all need in this time.
