FANTASTIC BEASTS WAS, INDEED, FANTASTIC

By DAVID MOSCA

It has been almost six years since the last edition of the Harry Potter franchise entered movie theaters with Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2. After the legendary saga concluded in 2011, the only way people could re-live the “Wizarding World” experience was buying the movies on DVD or reading the original Harry Potter books. That was, of course, until a brand new magical experience was released in theaters this past November called Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them written by the original writer of the books herself, J.K Rowling. This weekend I had the privilege to see the movie first-hand and today I will be giving my honest review of the newest addition to J.K. Rowling’s magical-movie universe.

Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them is an immediate breath of fresh air to new fans, who may never have heard of the franchise, and long time fans who live and breath everything Potter. To give a bit of insight into what the movie is about, Fantastic Beasts stars the up-and-coming, Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander, a wizard who studies magical beasts which he keeps inside his other-worldly suitcase.  He unintentionally stays a bit longer than he wishes, thanks to a human named Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler), who opens up his suitcase releasing all of his creatures. While they try to collect Newt’s animals, the Magical Congress of America begins to suspect them of evil-doing after an invisible being reeks havoc throughout the city.  Detective Percival Graves (Colin Farrell) believes that Newt is the one to blame for the destruction the monster has left. 

ORIGINAL PHOTO BY BUSTLE.COM

Out of all the elements that have sewn this movie together so elegantly, it was the characterization vibrantly displayed throughout the film that impressed me most. Each character bounced off each other like a ball being thrown against a wall.  Their opposite personalities ended up being the movie’s greatest strength advancing the adventure as the movie progressed. The gritty, more mature characterizations of the movie, involving Detective Graves, Mary Lou Barebone (Samantha Morton) and Credence (Ezra Miller), brought a realness to the film that developed plot lines and story progression. However, characters like Newt, Kowalski, and Porpentina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston) expressed their characterization through the light-hearted, sometimes comedic and all-around positive feel that fans all know and love. Of course, if you’re not into the characters like I was, the movie had beautiful visual effects and the movie’s soundtrack, like the original Harry Potter film series, was flawless. 

If I had to say anything negative about the movie, I would say that even though it’s based off the wonderful, magical “Wizarding World,” there are some very dark scenes in the movie that surprised me a bit. If you have  younger siblings or friends that want to see the movie with you, I would actually wait until they are old enough to see this PG-13 rated movie.  There are a couple of scenes in Fantastic Beasts that deal with abuse and, while these scenes are important to the plot of the film, they may be a bit heavy for younger viewers.

I think it’s safe to say that, even though it was a bit too gritty at times, J.K. Rowling, along with Warner Brothers Studios, was able to successfully bring another wizard to life with a brand new set of adventures and experiences for a whole new generation. The release of Fantastic Beasts marks the first in a series of a confirmed five films total.  With that being said, I can’t wait for what this new saga of films has to offer. I’ve decided to rate Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, a nine out of ten stars.  If you haven’t seen it yet, buy yourself a ticket, grab some popcorn and enjoy the movie with some friends.