Fantastic Beasts
Director: David Yates
Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Samantha Morton
Genre: Fantasy/Action
Duration: 133 minutes
Rating: 8.5/10
Borrowing its title from one of the textbooks Harry studied at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, this film follows Newt Scamander, a magizoologist, who has just completed a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures.
Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident, were it not for an encounter with a No-Maj (as in ‘No magic’, a person who lacks any sort of magical ability and was not born in a magical family) factory worker named Jacob and to a larger extent his carelessness for someone charged with keeping potentially dangerous creatures.
In his absent-mindedness, Scamander accidentally swaps his magical suitcase with Jacob’s who unleashes half a dozen or so of the beasts onto the streets, which could spell trouble for both the wizard and No-Maj worlds.
Thumbs Up
This movie could not have come at a better time with its themes of minorities’ persecution and division of society being addressed. Retaining Yates as director gives the film a certain consistency to the Harry Potter series, with the best thing about his direction being the satisfying visuals.
Who can frown at the idea of a witch cooking without an oven? The film’s plot is well portrayed with Tina’s flashbacks over the course of the film serving to give the backstory.
Thumbs Down
With there being a magical explanation for everything, one feels that there is too much going on which also compromises the story’s logic.
Verdict
If for nothing else, watch it for the pretty fantastic beasts and the eventual realisation that love is the most powerful magic.
