The magical world of Harry Potter returns in this fun and exciting new film from the mind of J.K. Rowling. Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them takes place in New York City many years before the events of the Harry Potter. We focus on fellow writer and wizard Newt Scamander who arrives in New York with a magical suitcase filled with fantastic magical creatures from around the world. In a series of unfortunate mishaps, Newt’s creatures are accidentally unleashed upon the city and chaos ensues. Teaming up with a no maj(American term for non magic people) named Jacob and two other wizards named Tina and Queenie, Newt must not only recapture his creatures, but deal with a seemingly sinister plot along the way.
It has been five years since the last time we stepped into J.K Rowling’s magical world. And we all thought we would never see it again after the final Harry Potter film. But thanks to the screenwriting debut of J.K. Rowling and returning director David Yates, we are given another magical and wonderful adventure in Fantastic Beasts. The world and the visuals of this movie are astounding, especially on the Fantastic Beasts themselves. Each creature has their own unique design and they are stunning to the point where you want to touch the screen and be able to touch one.
Just like in the Harry Potter films, we are introduced to an amazing cast. Eddie Redmayne is fun and charming as Newt and truly shines when he interacts with the magical creatures. Katherine Waterson plays Tina who may seem like a strict and by the book wizard, but she has a gentle side to her as well and Waterson does a good balance of that. Allison Sudol is adorable as Queenie who unlike Tina is full of life and very easy going and Sudol plays it masterfully. Ezra Miller performance in this movie is disturbing and very heartbreaking. I won’t go into spoilers about what he truly is, but it will shock you. Colin Farrell also does a great job in this film as Graves. Until the third act of this movie, you have no idea what his true intentions are and he keeps you guessing. But the standout performance in this movie is Dan Folger as the no-maj Jacob. Folger steals every scene he is in with his comedic timing and humor. And I truly hope we see more of him in the upcoming sequels. Even the creatures themselves are characters on their own and you care about every single one of them.
Now I will admit the human characters didn’t strike a chord with me like the characters in the Harry Potter films where I fell immediately in love with the characters. But we still have four films to look forward to, so we will see where their characters progress.
Overall, Fantastic Beasts is a great, fun, and magical film that draws you back into the world of Harry Potter and I can’t wait to see what J.K. Rowling has in store next. Go to a cinema right now and see it for yourself.
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