Review: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

When a new movie, game or book is announced, set in an already beloved universe, the usual reaction is a mix of scepticism and hope. Many will invariably see it as a cheap cash-in or an unnecessary addition, whilst others look forward to another look into a world they only caught a glimpse of. I know that I felt all of the above about Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them when it was first revealed.

Thankfully, keeping David Yates on board and heavily involving J.K. Rowling in the writing process has meant that Fantastic Beasts feels like a natural and welcome entry in the Potterverse.

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Set almost one hundred years ago, Fantastic Beasts focuses on the adventures of Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) as he visits New York for the first time. He is well-travelled, taking in multiple continents in his adventures, all with the aim of studying – and then writing about – magical beasts from around the world. Similar to Hagrid in the main Potter books, Scamander feels that these creatures are misunderstood and feels duty-bound to help them.

Redmayne is suitably eccentric in the role and gives Newt an awkward charm. His love for his charges is immediately endearing and Redmayne’s humour is perfect for the part. Dan Fogler plays Jacob Kowalski, a No-Maj (or muggle to the rest of us), who inadvertently takes Scamander’s case instead of his own. This leads to the release of the beasts and starts off the movie’s quest to return them safely. Fogler is outstanding as the regular Joe in over his head and we get to experience his wonder and excitement as the magical world is opened to him.

While Scamander scurries around New York looking for his companions, the magical community of New York is on tenterhooks. Dark wizard Gellert Grindlewald is on the loose and wants to expose the world of wizards and witches to regular humans; not for their own enlightenment but to subjugate them. As you can imagine, having magical creatures run amok in Manhattan is not ideal in the circumstances.

This leads former auror, Porpentina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston), to try to capture Newt. Despite an admirable job from Waterston, she is just not given enough to do here. She is cast as the love interest of Newt but the strongest relationship he has in the movie is with Jacob.

The Potter movies have never skirted dark subjects and this new series seems to follow that trend. A cult of anti-wizard muggles, known as Second Salem, are led by Mary Lou (Samantha Morton). She is fanatical in her belief that wizards and witches must be exposed and destroyed, leading her to recruit young children and orphans to her cause. We meet Credence (Ezra Miller), one of her flock, who is repeatedly abused and beaten by Mary Lou for transgressions. One of his ‘sisters’, Modesty is repeatedly heard chanting anti-magic hymns. It all comes off as disturbing and Westboro Baptist Church-esque.

The mix of humour and topics surrounding child abuse is handled pretty well by Yates. While we smile and laugh when Newt and Jacob bumble around New York, desperately chasing the next ‘cutest-thing-ever’, Newt’s jewellery-stealing niffler, we also boo and hiss (internally at least) Mary Lou and Percival Graves (Colin Farrell), an American ministry investigator in pursuit of Newt and the gang. The tone is almost identical to the latter Potter movies so we’re used to it by now.

I also need to shout out the creature designs as I adored them. Despite a reliance on CG effects to create them, the beasts still looked appropriately stunning. I was reminded of Guillermo Del Toro’s best work and that is a high compliment in itself.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them sits comfortably in the top half of my favourite Potterverse movies list. It is funny, charming and deceptively dark – all of the things I appreciated about J.K. Rowling’s books. The prospect of a five-part franchise may initially stir those sceptical/hopeful feelings again but this first entry has reassured me that we’re in good hands.

Tags: Colin Farrell, Dan Fogler, David Yates, Eddie Redmayne, Ezra Miller, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, J.K. Rowling, Katherine Waterston, Samantha Morton