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Stopping over in New York in 1926, in his attempt to find new magical beasts to study, Newt Scamander inadvertently causes calamity when his suitcase is switched with that of a No-Maj (American for Muggle). It's a race against time to get his creatures back into the suitcase before they come to any harm...
A new age, a new city, a new central wizard with a penchant for bad luck - Fantastic Beasts is the story of a harmless magician swept up in a world of trouble when he arrives in New York city. As the central character, Eddie Redmayne is perfect. Awkward, gangly and uncertain, all he wants to do is dedicate his life to his array of animals, kept safely within his magical suitcase. Accompanied by a fellow hapless individual, Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler) the two make their way across town to track down the creatures who have escaped. At least, this is a part of the story - there is another, much darker tale being told in parallel to Scamander's escapades, which offers a wholly black and scary side to the wizarding world. Fusing fun and with haunting, director David Yates has managed to create a ponderous film that thrives more on the talking aspects of the story instead of the big battles and set pieces. This is actually something of a welcome relief after the elongated fight scenes seen in comic book movies of late. With a tinkering score by James Newton Howard and wonderfully realised 'fantastic beasts' it's a treat to be able to step back into the wizarding world.
One of the undoubted joys of the Harry Potter series is the undeniably British element, which is unfortunately lost in the decision to move the action to the United States. Newt Scamander's English charm and awkwardness is strangely offset by the more 'showy' natures of the American characters. It seems a strange decision on Rowling's part to set the story, then, in New York. Similarly, I was sometimes left confused at to what the motivations of the some of the characters were, namely Porpentina Goldstein (Katherine Waterson), who initially arrests Newt. At some points she seems desperate only to take him back to Headquarters so that he might be arrested and his animals confiscated, and then at other points she wants to save his animals and him. Her character remains a wholly undeveloped one, which is deeply problematic considering she is one of the central characters of the film. And, as a final point, who the hell cast Johnny Depp!?
A welcome trip back into the magical world of Rowling's imagination that will be a treat to both fans of the books and novices alike, Fantastic Beasts fuses the wondrous with the scary to create a film that's perfect for all ages. With a pitch-perfect central performance from Redmayne and a plethora of wonderful creatures to accompany him, it definitely sets up the inevitable spin-offs well.
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