By Bernie ‘The Movie Guy’ Ment
Contributing Writer
To say that many wanted to return to the world created for the Harry Potter books in another big screen adventure would be the understatement of the century. I wasn’t a fan of the books until I saw the first movie, but once I became engrossed in the lore, I, like many other adults, purchased and read all seven tomes and saw all eight movies with great anticipation.
Throughout the original masterpieces, we were introduced to magical creatures that helped and hindered Harry and his friends. If you were ever wondering about where they came from and how many of them there are, this is the perfect prequel for you.
This story takes place about 75 years before the Harry Potter stories, beginning in New York City around 1926. A young wizard named Newt Scamander takes a trip across the pond where he accidentally unleashes several magical creatures and then must recover them before they wreak havoc among the no-majs (what American wizards call muggles on this side of the world).
Along the way, he meets and recruits the aid of an American wannabe pastry maker who is down on his luck. With nothing better to do, this poor schleb of a guy willingly helps the fish-out-of-water mage navigate his way around New York in his quest to right the ensuing mayhem.
Complicating matters are members of the magical investigations arm of the American wizards who are out to capture Scamander and his creatures before they expose the wizarding world to no-majs. Chief among the pursuers is Mr. Graves (Colin Farrell) a man of questionable morals who will stop at almost nothing to capture his prey.
The story becomes somewhat disjointed, though, bouncing from scene to scene often without explanation or justification. This hurts the overall story and will leave the viewer wondering what exactly they missed.
The creatures are really the focus of the story and are the real reason to even see this movie. Much like the creatures created for the Harry Potter movies, these are all fantastic in nature and rendered with incredible detail for the screen. Some, though, are easy to spot as CGI creations, making them a lot less believable than others.
Eddie Redmayne knows he’s playing second fiddle to the creatures but he still delivers a bravura performance as Newt Scamander, the wizard who would eventually become the authority on all the creatures in his great menagerie. He lends the needed gravitas to the picture, giving his wizard the right amount of humanity for us to sympathize with but the right haughty air to make us loathe him at the same time.
Dan Fogler is charming as the likable schleb Kowalski, but he too gets the unenviable task of costarring alongside the fantastic creatures who mostly steal the action. It’s nice, too, to see the good guys get something cool out of the experience once in a while and the payoff for Kowalski is actually the nicest way to end the movie.
As Graves, Colin Farrell exudes the smarminess necessary to once again play the villain of the piece and he does his best to play down any sympathy the audience might have for his character. The good news is that he succeeds nicely. And his comeuppance is well deserved.
The prominent female role is played by Katherine Waterston. As Tina, she gets the double duty of playing the only law enforcer after Newt who isn’t trying to kill him and of course eventually she evolves into a love interest. She handles both aspects of her character quite nicely.
Blink and you might miss the cameo by uber star Johnny Depp who plays another pivotal character from wizarding history. Maybe in the future we might see a story focused on his character.
I was also disappointed that the producers didn’t tack on an Easter egg. It would be nice to know if J.K. Rowling has anything else planned for the future of the rich world she has created for film fans and readers alike.
I have to say, I still enjoyed the movie despite its shortcomings. I give “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” a three and a half out of five stars.
