Movie Review: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

It was 15 years ago that Harry Potter first came to theater, so it seems fitting that we finally get an extension to the wizarding world. The textbook this story is based on is actually one that I was most interested in with the original series. It will be interesting how they turn a text book into a story and learning more about the author. I probably should have watched the Harry Potter series again first, but it is too late for that. It could be a good or bad thing, but I hope you enjoy my review of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

The movie starts with a group of people, most likely wizards, standing in a group, when a blue fire disintegrates them all. We see the back of a mans head, then newspaper clippings start flying around with similar headlines, asking about a man named Grindelwald. Further reading of the papers show these are the headlines in the US. As the papers settle into a picture of the Statue of Liberty we zoom into the actual statue with a boat passing by.

On the deck of the boat we see a man sitting on a bench with a suitcase next to him. The latch on the suitcase flips open on its own, and as the man closes the latch he lifts the suitcase onto his lap. We soon see this is Newt Scamander (played by Eddie Redmayne) and he talks to someone, or something, in the case telling them to be patient, as they are almost there. He soon exits the boat and goes through security at the New York boat terminal. The inspector asks some questions about what is in his suitcase, when the latch opens on its own again. Newt says he should get it fixed and closes it again. The inspector asks to see in his bag, and Newt puts it up and makes it "muggle worthy" to inspect. When the case is opened all we see is some clothing, personal items and a pocket watch ticking away. The inspector closes the case and says welcome to New York.

The plot of the story brought us an interesting perspective of how the wizarding world is in America. It took us to the past before Harry Potter time, so there wasn't a competing story line as well. I enjoyed that aspect of it. Being the first movie in this story line, a lot of time was spent in character development, so maybe we lost a little bit of story there, but it did not lack that much. There was some great action and even some growth of the main character. Trying not to give away too much, but what I enjoyed most is that the hero of the story, Newt, appears to have some autistic traits to him. I like that we now have movies like this one and The Accountant with Autistic people as lead characters. It gives us hope and is nice to know that I could be able to relate to him at least a little.

The acting was also top notch, mostly on the part of Eddie Redmayne. The way he portrayed Newt Scamander was definitely greater than I was expecting. You would almost think he was autistic in real life if you didn't know better. The character Tina Goldstein played by Katherine Waterston at first comes across as static and one dimensional, but it does not stay that way. I think this was a smart way for her to play the character, as it gave us growth to like her when she annoyed us at first. Then there is Colin Farrell as Percival Graves. He kept us guessing between good and bad and I can think of no one better to play this role. He also lead us brilliantly into one great twist, which I saw coming, but it was still well done. I did find some of the background characters were a touch bland, but these actors and the CGI beasts make up the difference. I am curious to see how things grow in the sequel, which we all know will happen.

Overall, the story plot went through very smoothly, and the acting was great, and the CGI was exceptional. There are some things to look out for in this movie, and some might surprise you to know. So, for these reasons, I would rate this 9.0/10.

Also thank-you to my good friend Quade who helped me set up a facebook page. If you have time please check it out and give it a like.
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