Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them starring Eddie
Redmayne, Katherine Waterson, Dan Folger, Alison Sudol, Colin Farrell, directed
by David Yates, and with the screenplay written by J.K. Rowling. Fantastic
Beast takes place in New York City during the roaring 1920’s, and fifty to
sixty years before Harry Potter is born. It follows the story of Newt Scamander
who is traveling to release a Magical Creature back to the wild. Events go awry in the city and some of his
animals escape from his magical suitcase. At the same time his creatures begin to run
around the city another dark force or creature is terrorizing the magical and
non-magical people of New York.
To say I’m Harry Potter fan might be an understatement. I
love the series and jumped on the bandwagon when the fourth book was released.
Having another movie separate from Harry Potter, but set in the Wizarding World
is fantastic. Just the fact we are escaping back into the magical world was enough
to sell me on the movie. My thoughts on this film might be slightly skewed
because I enjoy the magical universe J.K. Rowling created to a major degree. I
really enjoyed Fantastic Beast, and thought it had the perfect amount of fun
charm, message, and hints of the darker world which make up the core of most
Potterverse books and films.
The performances for the most part are great. Eddy Redmayne
loses himself into the role of Newt. The only issue I had with his performance
is the mumbling he did throughout the film. It was hard to hear what he was
saying about the animals and what they could do. This was more than likely a
character trait of Newt, but maybe they could have highlighted his quirkiness
another way. I think the other standout of the film is Dan Folger who plays the
muggle or non-mag as they are called in America. He is the audience for the
film showing the sense of wonderment a person introduced to the magical world
would have. His slight comic relief, but sweet and good natured persona adds a
great touch to the film overall. I liked Katherine Waterson character Tina who
is a disgraced Auror trying to get her job back. Something however seemed a
little off with her performance, but overall it still worked within the
framework of the film. Alison Sudol plays her sister Queenie in the movie and
quietly steals the show every time she is on screen. Her ability to mind read
and turn situations on their head played into the overall fun nature of the
Fantastic Beast.
On the flip side of the heroes is Colin Farrell’s Auror
detective, Graves, whose motivation isn’t completely understood until the very
end of the movie. He keeps interacting with a troubled and abused boy, Credence
played by Ezra Miller. Credence’s foster mom beats him and wants to expose the
wizarding world. The woman wants to bring Wizards and Witches into the light to
persecute them. Graves wants and needs Credence to find a child for him. We don’t
find out why until closer to the end of the film. If there is one slight miss for
the movie it is with Farrell’s character. The ending of the film helps explain
this to a degree, but I would have preferred more motivation for him provided
throughout the story.
The underlying message the film has, like any good Rowling
story, is about not hiding who you truly are and the damage it can cause. I
liked the slight twist Yates and Rowling had in the story, and while I probably
should have seen it coming the setup had me fooled. It is overall a very well
put together film. The action is fun, the story engaging, and the message is
subtle. It is a fun movie which also has a ton of heart and love put into it.
The ending might have been too neat, but when you have magic I guess anything
is possible. Fantastic Beast is well worth seeing, and worth seeing multiple
times in the theaters if you are a Potter fan. If you are just a casual fan or
want to see a fun film it is still worth checking out.
What did you think of Fantastic Beast and Where
to Find them? Like it or love it, not like it? Comment and let me know. Like
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