The Gist:
Fantastic Beasts – 70 years before The Boy Who Lived, there was the adventurer Newt Scamander! Accompanied by a suitcase and a hell of a lot of ambition, Newt travels to MURICA and gets caught up in the American Politics of the Magical world after the creatures he brings with him escape.
The Review:
This isn’t the Harry Potter film again, nor is this laced with Easter Eggs or recycling the same plot again – it doesn’t even reference! So I already believe this can work as a stand alone series.
When the film started I was quite shifty because of all the sequels and prequels I’d seen of my much loved movie franchises, so I watch the first moments of the film like a snob, as I did with the first Harry Potter series.
Seeing Newt aboard the boat made me think of Titanic for some reason (a film I’ve just watched this year, so bare with me!). My snootiness disappeared as soon as the magical action kicked off, which isn’t too far from the beginning with a cat-and-mouse chase with our first adorable creature.
We see Newt stumble into a characteristic group of individuals all with their own quirks, including the lovable oath, the protagonist, the love interest – There’s a familiar series of character development however, its so fun and engaging to see how they all communicate and bounce off each other, they are extremely likeable!
Newt is like the Pokémon master, or better yet David Attenborough – actually yes I get a sense of David Attenborough. The performance from Eddie is sublime and you can feel his good hearted nature, its almost sickly sweet. I guess JK Rowling gets her wish wanting to see what the wizard world would of been like in the US as Newt enters the great New York City as we engage in the wizarding scale in a much bigger way, we can see the cultural differences even the way they call muggle a no-maj.
The little details are what make such a sparky impression, as a strong J.K Rowling fan, I – as have many – have turned to her books and wise words for magical escapism – so I feel like the withdrawal of magic really take its toll. The arrival of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them, kept me laughing, smiling, wooing and reliving that nostalgic buzz I had when the franchise first came about.
The Verdict:
We’ve had one hell of a crazy 2016 – there have been some unforgiving moments, the loss of a majority talented individuals and some unbelievable outcomes in politics.
I’m not saying this film is revolutionary and will save the world, but I do believe this is the feel-good flick kick that we needed. Something fun, not something that’s hasn’t been recycled or overdramatised. It’s a prequel/extension that’s been done right!
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