FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM Offers Plenty of Magical Thrills

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is for the most part, as the English say, “Brilliant,” a romping good time through the Harry Potter universe. Except, unlike the eight main Harry Potter films that have come before, Fantastic Beasts is set in America, roughly a century before our bespectacled hero undertook his quest against Voldemort. Beasts is the first movie extension of the Potter universe, and introduces us a whole new set of characters and, of course, fantastic creatures.

Eddie Redmayne stars as Newt Scamander, a wizard who smuggles in a suitcase of magical creatures illegally into New York City. The year is 1926, and the wizarding community is far more interested in protecting the secret of their existence from “No-Majs” (known as “Muggles” in England), than they are in preserving the fascinating, though often quite destructive, creatures that Scamander cares for.

Redmayne shines as the beating heart of the film, playing Scamander as an introverted loner who brims with a charisma fueled by his curiosity and mischief. As soon as he steps into New York with a suitcase overflowing with his chaotic beasts things seem doomed to go afoul, and no sooner is the proverbial (though in this case almost literal) cat out of the bag before he enlists Jacob Kowalski (Dan Folger), a clueless but affable “No-Maj” who tries his best to assist Scamander in retrieving his beloved beasts. Folger also shines in the film, his gregarious energy a perfect foil to Redmayne’s withdrawn but palpable intellect.

It’s safe to say Fantastic Beasts is somewhat of a buddy film, and indeed much of the fun comes from Scamander and Kowalski’s comedic romp through New York as they try and wrangle up the assorted magical creatures. But the film has a decidedly political element to it, centering on the Magical Congress of the United States of America and their battle to stop Gellert Grindelwald, a wizard terrorist who commits heinous crimes in the hopes of making “No-Majs” aware of wizarding kind. It’s here that Colin Farrell steps in as Percival Graves, a mysterious auror (A member of an elite group of wizard police) who works for the M.C.U.S.A, and has an interest in finding a powerful wizard child hidden somewhere in the city. No more can be said without giving away spoilers, but the narrative links between Graves, Grindelwald, and Scamander are somewhat tenuous and at times confusing. It’s the films lighter moments that shine the brightest.

Fantastic Beasts is a must see for any Harry Potter fan, and even those who haven’t yet been inducted into the Potter universe, Beasts offers plenty of magical thrills. Redmayne anchors this effects-heavy film, radiating affection for his fantastic beasts in way that brings them all the more to life. In those moments, Beasts is blockbuster cinema at its best: For those looking for tears, thrills and laughs, this is the place to find them.