Film Review: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them ★★★★★

As you are probably aware by now I'm a HUGE fan of Harry Potter and everything Potter related. So, of course, as soon as Fantastic Beasts came out I was at the Cinema watching it. I actually considered going to a midnight showing before coming to the realisation that I'm old now and would just fall asleep. 

If you don't already know, Newt Scamander was featured in the Harry Potter series; in Care of Magical Creatures the students are given a book to study: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. JK Rowling then released this book along with The Tales of Beedle the Bard and Quidditch Through the Ages. They're only short books and are basically as you would imagine them to be: school books. So, from this tiny school book comes the film - and four to follow.

I've never really given much thought into Scamander, his life, his history; but through this film series we're sure to find out! And I can honestly say that the first installment was AMAZING. I'm not going to lie and say I wasn't sceptical, because I was. I'm generally quite a cynic about anything new Potter related. Because although I'm excited, I'm also totally worried that it will be ruined - nobody wants that! Thankfully this wasn't the case.

It's great to see parts of the wizarding world that we've never even thought about before. A time before Harry Potter. A backstory that we never even dreamed existed! Honestly, I think any fan of the Potter universe will love this film as it provides more insight into the world that we all love! It isn't rushed or tacky or just plain stupid; and I think a lot that has to do with the fact that it was written by JK Rowling herself. If anyone else got their hand on it, it would've been ruined!

A lot people working on the film actually worked on the Potter series (David Yates and David Heyman) which is great because they have the same Potter feel without actually being Harry Potter!

I can't recommend it enough!

SPOILER ALERT!!

The film follows the author of Fantastic Beasts, Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), across 1920's New York City. Scamander heads to New York not in search of magical creatures, but to release one back to the wild in Arizona. However, as you can imagine, he got himself into a little bit of trouble soon upon arrival. 

There are anti-witch groups across the city so keeping the wizarding world secret is pivotal for wizards and muggles alike. Unless you want to start a war. After just 5 minutes of being in the city one of Scamander's creatures gets loose, thankfully it's a harmless niffler, but a magical creature nonetheless. He clumsily chases the niffler around a muggle bank, and in doing so, meets Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler). Kowalski is a muggle, or no-maj as they're called in the film (weird - I know). Scamander's secret is out and before he can oblivate Kowalski he's gone. But not without accidentally switching Scamander's magical case for his muggle one... which are conveniently identical! 

Little does Scamander know that witch Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston) has been watching him and arrests soon arrests him for not only bringing magical creatures to the city but also letting them loose. Lucky for Scamander, having made one too many mistakes nobody cares what Goldstein has to say. So in the end, she ends up helping Scamander in his quest to rescue his creatures back from Kowalski, along with her sister Queenie (Alison Sodul). We soon learn that Kowalski is harmless enough and the four strike an unlikely friendship.

Scamander's magical creatures being loose around the city is just the beginning of trouble! A dark force is wreaking havoc across New York; and this force is an Obscurus. This is a dark entity that manifests itself inside a young witch or wizard who has been suppressing their magical abilities. Those who have an obscurus inside them usually don't live long as the weight of carrying the obscurus becomes too strong to bear. Scamander soon comes in the firing line for brining this to the city when we discover he's keeping one inside his suitcase; but there's another lurking nearby. And it's extremely powerful. More than you can imagine.

IMAGES FROM GOOGLE IMAGES

I honestly loved the film and it exceeded ALL expectations. If you're unsure of whether to go watch it - GO WATCH IT! That's me telling you, now, what are you still doing here? You should be at the cinema!