Fish and Cherries Productions

Synopsis: In the year 1925, former Hogwarts student Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) comes to New York to study magical creatures for his new book. But when he runs into a No-Maj (what American wizards call muggles) named Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler) and his case of creatures is let loose on the city, the two get in hot water with the country’s magical government. A member of magical law enforcement named Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston) takes it on herself to watch over them as they clean up their mess. But little do they know that a fanatical group of wizard hunters led by the bigoted Mary Lou Barebone (Samantha Morton), with her children Modesty (Faith Wood-Blagrove), Creedence (Ezra Miller), and Chastity (Jenn Murray). One of them has a deadly and powerful secret that interests Percival Graves (Colin Farrell), a wizarding government official who has his own agenda. Paths clash and sparks fly as the heroes must sort out the whole affair lest wizards get exposed to the public.

Review: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a wondrous experience and better than the past Harry Potter movies put together. A big part of this is that J.K. Rowling, who wrote the original Harry Potter books, wrote the script. Nothing gets lost in translation that happens when other writers try to capture her brilliance — it’s 100% undiluted Rowling. It’s just as well because that woman has a way with dialogue that most writers can only dream to possess. Granted, it feels like she struggles with the film medium a bit because of how much story she’s put in, but it all comes together gloriously in the end.

The main characters are a perfect odd group of misfits, Newt being an amazing standout. Redmayne captures the lovable awkward hero persona so well you really could believe that he was an introverted wizard who relates more to animals than people. The other characters do fine too and feel like they fit right into the world. It’s good that we can relate so well to these characters because it makes us feel more for them when events take a dark and tragic turn. Spoiling any of it would be blasphemous.

I went in expecting a nice return to the world of witchcraft and wizardry, but what I got was a great story that introduced me to new avenues of the Harry Potter world and newly shed light on some old ones. From the atmosphere to the characters to the story, everything had me hooked. If you grew up on Harry Potter, this is a must-see. In fact, you might even enjoy it if you weren’t into it before. Hop on a thunderbird to your nearest theater and see for yourself.

Fun Tidbit: From the Harry Potter films to Fantastic Beasts, the filmmakers have been very careful to match the nationalities of the actors and characters (British actors play British roles and Americans do the same), which is why we never saw Haley Joel Osment play Harry. But there’s a notable exception: Colin Farrell, an Irish actor, plays an American role. Those who have seen the movie might see this as foreshadowing…