Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them - Review

As a die-hard Harry Potter fan who has read every single book about the wizard world at least once, from the very first "Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much" to the last "So do I" (yes, the last line of Cursed Child is a bit unspectacular), of course I was thrilled when I heard there would be a new movie series about J. K. rowlings magical world. Harry Potter was the book series that got me into binge-reading little libraries worth of books, starting a long line of things happening in my life that ends with me now doing a job I couldn't be happier with. To me, as to so many of us, Harry Potter means the world.

Now, 5 years after the last movie closed this world to us, we got Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. Now when I say I read everything there is to read about Harry Potter, of course that includes Fantastic Beasts, a tiny book by J. K. Rowling published with Comic Relief in 2001. That book was made as the text book by Newt Scamander Harry, Ron and Hermoine used at Hogwarts to learn about magical creatures, so it was more of an encyclopedia, non-fiction, nothing with a story. Accordingly, while I was thrilled, I was also sceptical (yes, I tend to be), how were they going to make a movie from a text book? Let alone five movies?
I was fearing this to be just a way to get more money out of us loving Harry Potter fans who (let's face it) would pay for everything allowing us to live in this world a little longer.

Boy was I wrong.

It's easy to say that seing the Warner Bros. logo on the big theater screen plus hearing the oh-so-well-known melody equals one trip back down fan feeling lane, but actually, it is the story and the characters that fully convinced me.
We got young Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), a British wizard, arriving in the USA by ship with a suitcase that wiggles around oddly. On his way through New York, he comes across a gathering of muggles, sorry, no-majs, in front of a bank listening to a woman trying to convince them about wizards and witches existing amongst them and that they should be hunted down and be killed. While he listens to her, a creature escapes from his suitcase: A niffler, a small, rodent-like creature with a long snout, black fur, and a kangaroo-like pouch to collect shiny things in. That's why it escaped, there are a lot of shiny things in banks, and Newt chases after it to get it back in the suitcase.
In the bank, he meets no-maj Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler). Kowalski wants to apply for a credit to open up his own bakery, and he has a suitcase very simmilar to Newts. Sadly, since he has no security he could offer to the bank, his apply gets rejected. On his way out, he stumbles over Newt again and in a quick turn of events they are inside a bank safe surrounded by security guards and Kowalski knows a bit more about magic than he should. They escape, and Newt tries to obliterate him, but Kowalski defends himself and escapes yet again - with the wrong suitcase. This is where Newt meets Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston), a witch who arrest him immediately and takes him to the MACUSA (the American Ministry of Magic), where we find out that she is actually an ex-auror. When they find out that the suitcases got mixed up, they go find Kowalski, who has already been bitten by one of Newts creatures. Tina and her sister Queenie (Alison Sudol), a legilimens (mind-reader), take them in and the four of them start searching for the creatures that Kowalski let escape the suitcase.

Meanwhile, New York has another magical problem, one even wizards can't really explain, let alone no-majs: A giant dark shadow destroys streets and buildings and even kills. Maybe Newt with his expertise of magical creatures may be able to help?

While in the Harry Potter movies, we had the joy of watching a young wizard learn to control his power and learn what can be done with it, now we see this power put to daily use. The awkward tries of the pupils were funny to watch, but seeing fully trained wizards and witches apparate through the town is a lot more fascinating - expecially since it seems to be no big deal, everyone can do it. Everything else would feel wrong in my opinion, so I am glad they actually did it like this.
A lovely detail is the menagerie Newt has in the depths of his suitcase: He has creatures of every size and type down there, from tiny bowtruckles to majestic thunderbirds, and he does his best to give them an appropriate home down there. His love for his creatures is contageous!
And last but not least: romance! While Tina and Newt really take it cool and develope more of a friendship rather than an actual romance right-away, Queenie and Jacob have their love at the first sight story and it actually works! Admittedly, it is very cheesy, but it doesn't seem a tad unrealistic and is explained very well.

When I left the cinema, I was crying tears of joy. As many as I cried when I got my job two years ago, to put it in comparison. And I didn't stop crying for the whole night, because I felt so at home, so welcome back to J. K. Rowlings magical world. So, in conclusion, I do not at all regret seeing Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them on the big screen and I'll take the next four ones with open arms. Hell, I'd take dozens of them if they are half as good as this one! So I reccomend watching it, may it be because you love Harry Potter or because you love one of the already well-known actors in the movie or because you love animals, just please watch it!