Review: Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them

The first Harry Potter spin-off comes at the end of a patchy summer of blockbusters that mostly failed to hit the mark. The Potter franchise is one of the most reliable to ever grace the cinema and while Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them never hits the highs of that series, it does kick off a potentially promising new adventure.

Written by J.K. Rowling and directed by Potter veteran David Yates, the film transports the wizarding world to New York City in the 1920s. The conflicts feel familiar though. "No-maj" sentiments versus the band of magic makers carries through, more pronounced here than before. It seems at times that Fantastic Beasts is Rowling's retort to the religious right's banishment of her work.

Eddie Redmayne plays Newt Scamander, an Englishman who carries a suitcase full of magical creatures. He wants to teach his fellow wizards about the beauty of these beasts rather than simply destroy them. In throwback to films of a bygone era, a switcheroo of the suitcases sets the action in motion as muggle Kowalski (a fun Dan Fogler) gets mixed up in Newt's attempt to recover some beasts that have escaped. Kowalski acts as the audience surrogate and while Fogler is a blast in the role, the character is not the same entry point as young Harry Potter. Newt is an ill-defined character and it is hard to feel connected to his desires.

As Newt and Kowalski search NYC for the beasts, they get mixed up with Goldstein (Katherine Waterson) and her sister Queenie (Alison Sudol). This creates the band of characters that will likely be the focal point of this new franchise. There are 4 other sequels already in the works. The scene where they all get to know each other in an apartment is the best scene in the film. In other places, the appeal of Rowling's world of magic losses something in moving Stateside. This is especially true in the handling of side characters who either fall into stand-ins for the religious right or corrupt politicians who are too self-interested to see deception under their noses.

The film introduces a slew of potential villains while never having a clear one of its own. Samantha Morton plays a lead of a witch-hunting group. Colin Farrell plays Percival Graves who head's up some sort of secret wizard police. Jon Voight plays a newspaper tycoon whose son is murdered by a mysterious force. And then there is the Obcurus, which is some sort of evil mist. The roles for all these potential villains may become clear as the series runs on but Fantastic Beasts really could have used a clear cut antagonist.

Yates and Rowling keep the film busy and sometimes the film clicks and is both charming and thrilling. Too often however the film feels lost. The labyrinthian amount of franchise setup combined with an uncompelling lead make Fantastic Beasts a truly mixed affair. The few spurts of energy and verve the film finds gives hope for the series. Harry Potter had a rough start too so perhaps this will all work out as the films progress. While moments of the film remind one of the best moments of the series, the film fails to create many memories of its own. The beasts are not very fantastic and yet I would happily see the next film.

3/5