Five years ago, the wizarding world of J.K Rowling concluded in Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Pt 2. With a fitting finale to the highly successful franchise, no one would have expected 5 years later to re-enter Rowling’s world once again. We have not only re-entered that world, we have been reminded of the charm and magic that made Harry Potter a force in cinema franchises. Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them provides a mesmerizing return to the Harry Potter universe with not only an enticing charm but the introduction of new characters that should satisfy the Potterheads all across the country.
Casual fans of the franchise and film may not be aware that Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was originally written in 2001 by J. K. Rowling (under the pseudonym of the fictitious author Newt Scamander) about the magical creatures in the Harry Potter universe. First mentioned in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the film follows Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) as he travels and discovers New York’s secret community of witches and wizards seventy years before Harry Potter first reads his book at Hogwarts.
Beasts best is in its title as the beasts seen throughout the film are simply fantastic. Newt Scamander’s suitcase contains creatures that are impossible, wildly inventive animals unlike anything never seen in the previous Potter installments. With Niffler and the film’s other creatures, Yates was able to put emphasis and importance on these creatures and make it different than Potter and quite honestly made it difficult not to marvel at the creative genius of J.K Rowling.
With a prequel comes new character
s. Along with Eddie Redmayne’s performance as Newt, three new characters, sisters Tina and Queenie, and Jacob Kowalski, are introduced and are unlike the Potter trio of Harry, Ron, and Hermione as the aforementioned characters show a substantial amount of flaws which is a welcome relief from the goodness and “always have the answers” mentality many of Rowling’s previous main characters shared. Jacob is denied in getting his dream bakery opened. Queenie has an underlying edge of sadness to her, while Tina is just plain morose, unhappy with her job. Three characteristics never seen before in Rowling’s protagonists.
With every hero comes a villain and while not on the level of “he who shall not be named”, Colin Farrell’s portrayal of Percival Graves brings just the right amount of menace and danger that makes Farrell a justifiable foe to Newt.
While the film does a great job of bringing the magic back to the screen, the film is just too long. What the last Potter film knew to do is keep it short, sweet, and tight in terms of length. At 2 hours and 20 plus minutes, the film, while entertaining has moments that the momentum halts and it can be felt. While not blamed on Beasts, the realization that this is the first of five leaves the film a bit incomplete. It can be seen with its finale that this is the first of many and its conclusion comes off as incomplete.
Overall, despite those flaws, Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them is an unexpected return to Rowling’s wizarding world but with anything, the unexpected surprises are sometimes the best.
Reel Talk gives Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them 3 reels
