Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – Film Review

After Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 ended, I thought that they would never make another film in this universe, that it would end up rebooted many years later. Thanks to cinematic events like the MCU, The Hunger Games, and Star Wars The Force Awakens – film franchise can continue on in different shapes and forms. The MCU has films in the universe that don’t have to be involved direct with other characters franchises. Now that The Hunger Games has ended it was in a similar position to Harry Potter with — What Next?

This film came to be from one of Harry Potter’s text books he used at Hogwarts. “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them By Newt Scamander.” The inception that the film would not be an adaptation of one of JK Rowling’s novels — but an original screenplay based upon the world that has been established. There won’t be set expectations for it to be compared to another medium or have to be reliant on you seeing the Harry Potter films to understand what is happening.

Yesterday, a wizard entered New York with a case. A case full of magical creatures. And unfortunately, some have escaped.

The characters are very well established in this entry of the Wizarding World. Newt, Tina, Queenie, and Kowalski were all great leads in the film. Seeing what America is like with wizards was a different experience that has me investing in learning what else the world is like with wizards other than just America and the UK. Getting to know the time period and the problems of society that there was a great experiment to try with the franchise. Colin Farrell is great as the villain Percival Graves. Ezra Miller was a great addition as Credence – a troubled orphaned child.

My only negatives with the film is that there could have been scenes cut down or restructured so they didn’t last as long but still got to the point. Diversity for the most part will be solved in future sequels with especially Zoe Kravitz’s character Leta Lestrange. I expect her to make an appearance based on her photographic cameo. When the film got to explore Newt’s suitcase with all the creatures the magic of the Wizarding World came alive and I was swept up in the magic of the film till the end. There are some really great magical fight sequences towards the end between adults that I really appreciate. Overall it’s a great solid start into this new era of Wizarding World films.
8/10

css.php Skip to content