Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

By: John Delia

Many years before Harry Potter’s birth there was another time where turmoil ran the wizard world. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is an interesting prequel to the Harry Potter series as it dives in deeper to the historical part of the J.K. Rowling magical franchise. Based on a book that appeared in one of the earlier Harry Potter stories, J.K. Rowling explores adventurously into her wizardly realm.

Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp), the second most notorious wizard to Valdermort, has escaped and is wreaking havoc on the muggles. Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), an employee of the Ministries of Magic and graduate of Hogwarts, travels to New York to complete a mission involving magical animals that have scattered throughout the world. He’s assigned to go from London to the states and release a magical beast back to where it belongs.

When he arrives in New York he literally runs into some interesting muggle characters. One in particular is Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler), who aspires to be a chef in a factory. He bumps into Newt by accident when a Niffler escapes from Newt’s suitcase and he sees the wizard’s loose beast. Also witnessing the incident is Porpentina “Tina” Goldstein (Katherine Waterston), former investigator of the American Ministries of Magic, who exercises her duty taking Newt and Jacob in for enquiry with Percival Graves (Colin Farrell) the Director of Magical Securities for the America Magic Ministries.

While in New York, Newt finds himself in the middle of a protest against witches and wizards. The protest is led by Mary Lou Barebone (Samantha Morton), the leader of the New Salem Philanthropic Society. She calls on Newt during the rally to help her ferret out those that practice the dark arts, but there’s a problem – Percival Graves has other plans that involve taking over New York City.

Director David Yates continues to amaze by bringing 1925 New York City and muggles versus wizards to life in this new venture. It probably wasn’t too hard since he helmed four chapters of the movie Harry Potter, thus familiarizing himself with the wizard world. Taking the new series of books by writer J.K. Rowling and bringing it to the screen, he starts a new adventure for youngsters and adults that should last for many years. Much like when the Harry Potter franchise began, he includes many details about each character that helps not only for this production, but for future sequels as well.

Each beast comes alive with the help of CGI and the imaginations of the Fantastic Beasts Production Company, including producer J.K. Rowling. Each of the new beasts has their own personality and are an important part of the film being visualized using amazing special effects and makeup. And as for writer J.K. Rowling, she continues to amaze me with the impressive story telling she brings to all of us. The details and knowledge she includes in her magical world are outstanding and perfect for all mature children and those adults who have grown up with Harry Potter.

This amazing storyline is cinematically breathtaking and kept my emotions engrossed throughout the entire movie. Just wondering what will happen next and where this saga will lead impresses beyond no bounds. Now, I’ll just have to wait until the next book gets a Hollywood makeover for this enjoyable adventure to continue. Already in production and with release dates are number two in 2018 and three in 2020.

The acting? Although it’s going to have some getting used to, the cast does a good job of depicting their characters. Eddie Redmaine reminds a lot of Rupert Grint, the Ron Wesley character in Harry Potter. Kind of shy and often a little weak, his Newt Scamander takes a little more imagination to accept his character. But, after a while, he blends in just fine.

I do like Katherine Waterston as Porpentina “Tina” Goldstein who has a job with the Magical Congress of the United States of America. As the character, Tina, tries to get to a higher level in the organization and thinks that helping Newt just may get her there. This could be a mainstay for the actress and I truly hope it will.
Final Grade: I give this first episode the highest grade for its excellent special effects, spectacular storyline and fantastic action scenes. It’s also fun for mature children with adult supervision as it has a rating of PG-13 by the MPAA for some fantasy action violence. (A)