15 years ago, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone arrived and became a phenomenon that launched one of the most successful franchises in movie history. Now we return with the prequel to the whole shebang, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. So, does this contain the same amount of magic and wonder and thrills? Yes.
Eddie Redmayne stars as Newt Scamander, a British wizard arriving in 1920s New York and he carries a mysterious briefcase containing magical creatures. He encounters a non-magical guy (Dan Fogler) who steals his briefcase and he unleashes the creatures on an unsuspecting New York.
Scamander gets it back and then his actions and presence are called into question by a secret order of witches and wizards called the Magical Congress of the U.S.A. Katherine Waterston and Alison Sudol are two witches that take both men under their wing and teach them all about a dangerous wizard on the loose.
Colin Farrell gives an effective supporting performance as a fellow member of the Congress who specializes in protecting the wizard world and his top priority is taking down Newt.
Fantastic Beasts almost reaches the level of fantastic, but at the same time, it also has the disadvantage of being in Harry Potter’s shadow. How is it possible to compare this prequel with the amount of exhilaration and originality the Potter films gave us? The answer is it can’t. But what it does, it does well.
It does offer nifty surprises both in terms of the story and we do get some remarkable visuals including when the creatures are discovered and they also provide some surprisingly funny moments to hold it together. There’s also an OMG cameo by a big-name star.
Fantastic Beasts is unfair to be compared to the original series, but I’ll gladly take this over the Hobbit series any day.
Grade: B+
(Rated PG-13 for fantasy action violence.)
This review is dedicated to the memory of Doris Billings.
