My Thoughts On Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them · 3:49pm Dec 28th, 2016
I've always been a huge fan of the Harry Potter series, but I tend to gravitate toward the books rather than the films. The problem with the movies is that they change a lot of important background information in regards to the characters and wizarding world (or they just leave out details all together). I like to think of the Harry Potter films as a separate universe than the books because they do have a very different feel than the source material.
With this latest film, I have to say that I do consider it to be part of the book canon because it has the tone of the original book series and helps to maintain continuity in subtle ways. I wasn't expecting much before I watched the film. I thought to myself that another Harry Potter film really doesn't need to exist. But after watching the film, I was pleasantly surprised at how good it turned out to be. And it kind of makes me want to see more movies that take place in the same universe, but occur in settings outside of the wizarding schools.
This review will contain some spoilers. So if you don't want some key points of the film given away, don't read beyond this point. Just skip to the end of the blog where I bring everything together and wrap things up. But if you don't care, then keep reading.
The movie follows the journey of a British wizard and magizoologist, Newt Scamander. Newt is on his way to Arizona to help release a mystical creature back into the wild that he helped to set free of its capture in another country. However, before he can reach his destination, one of the magical creatures in his suitcase (which is a zoo of sorts for all of the magical creatures he is studying) escapes by chance. As he is listening to a speech by Mary Lou Barebone, a non-magical woman who heads the New Salem Philanthropic Society which claims that witches and wizards are real and dangerous, a Niffler escapes from his magically-expanded suitcase. He attempts to capture the Niffler which leads him inside of a bank where he meets a No-Maj (the American version of a Muggle), cannery worker, and aspiring baker named Jacob Kowalski. The two have a brief conversation before Jacob heads into an appointment to see if he can get a loan for his bakery. Unfortunately, the bank turns his proposal down.
Meanwhile, Newt is still trying to recapture the Niffler which leads to him running into Jacob again, the two gaining the attention of the bank workers, and both of them getting caught red handed breaking into a safe (as Jacob was more or less brought along for the ride). Newt gets them out of the predicament by using a spell. The two grab each other's suitcases by mistake and each go their separate ways before Jacob can ask any other questions. Shortly after leaving the bank, a demoted Auror (a hunter of dark wizards) named Tina Goldstein arrests Newt for being an unregistered wizard and takes him to the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA) headquarters, hoping to regain her former position. However, as Jacob's suitcase contains only baked goods, Newt is released. Tina Goldstein is scolded for seeking an audience with the higher-ups as it were after being stripped of her position, and makes her way back to her tiny desk station she has been demoted to with Newt trailing behind her.
At Jacob's tenement apartment, several creatures escape from Newt's suitcase when Jacob opens it to retrieve his baked goods. Instead of baked goods he is surprised to stare into the faces of many different creatures of varying shapes and sizes. They break out of the suitcase one by one and destroy his apartment. One of the creatures bites him, leaving him in a paralyzed state. At MACUSA headquarters, Tina questions Newt about the contents of his suitcase and asks him whether or not he obliviated the memory of the 'No-Maj' he ran into earlier. To which Newt admits he never erased the No-Maj's memory and he most likely has his suitcase filled with magical creatures. Concerned about the consequences of Newt's careless actions, Tina tells Newt to help her track the No-Maj down so they can erase his memories and retrieve the suitcase he took filled with magical creatures. After Tina and Newt find Jacob and the suitcase, Tina takes them to her apartment to be monitored for a few days until she can get another appointment with the higher-ups at MACUSA to inform them of the situation. She introduces them to Queenie, her Legilimens sister. Queenie and Jacob are mutually attracted, though American wizards are forbidden to marry or even socially interact with No-Majs.
After Tina and Queenie give Jacob and Newt dinner, they show them to a guest room they can stay in while they are being detained. Tina brings them both some hot chocolate later in the evening. When she leaves the room, Newt takes Jacob inside his magically-expanded suitcase. He gives Jacob a tour of the various containment areas where he keeps all of the creatures he has captured for study in order to help witches and wizards understand their possible uses and educate them about the usefulness of their preservation. After Newt introduces Jacob to many of the creatures in his suitcase, Jacob encounters a contained Obscurus, or a dark, destructive parasite that lurks inside wizard children unable to control their magic. Newt extracted it from a young girl who has died. He explains that children infected by the Obscurus usually die by the age of 10. Shortly after the encounter, Newt persuades Jacob to help him search for the missing creatures. Newt and Jacob both break out of the apartment and continue on their journey of capturing the creatures that have escaped the expanding suitcase.
After re-capturing two of the three escaped beasts, Newt and Jacob re-enter the suitcase. Tina observes them climb into the suitcase and picks it up once they are inside. She then takes the suitcase to MACUSA. The officials arrest Tina, Newt, and Jacob after she hands over the evidence, as they believe that one of Newt's beasts is responsible for killing Senator Henry Shaw Jr. They decide to destroy Newt's suitcase and obliviate Jacob's recent memories. Director of Magical Security Percival Graves accuses Newt of conspiring with the infamous dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald. Newt and Tina are sentenced to immediate death, but Queenie and Jacob rescue them; the foursome then set out to find and re-capture the last of the creatures.
The four main characters spend the rest of the movie recapturing the last of the creatures that were set free from Newt's suitcase, doing battle with the host of an Obscurus that Percival Graves (the Director of Magical Security for MACUSA) has been after for his own evil purposes for most of the film, and proving their innocence to the President of MACUSA, Seraphina Picquery, through their heroic deeds.
This movie definitely did not fail to entertain. There was a lot of great magic, action, and mystery; all of the things that make the Harry Potter books so great. If I had to be picky about something, it would be that the first half of the movie is incredibly slow. But once all of the characters are established and everything about the world is set up, the rest of the film moves at a very fast pace to make up for lost time.
Another thing I didn't particularly enjoy was the way the American wizarding world was portrayed. It made it seem like the American wizards were all kind of jerks, save a few here and there. I hope that this series is developed a little better in the future so that the American wizarding world doesn't come off as being as harsh and unfair as it did in the film.
I also felt that the purpose and threat of the New Salem Philanthropic Society, headed by Mary Lou Barebone, could have been explained more. There was a really great scene at the beginning of the movie where Mary was explaining the reason why people needed to be cautious of witches that was really great. Then there was one other scene of her heading to the city newspaper building and trying to convince them to run a story about her organization and its message. But after that, the only scenes you see are of the children in the orphanage type place she runs singing about witches and stuff. It does set a very creepy atmosphere for the film, but that's about all it does. I feel that the New Salem Philanthropic Society could have been a really interesting threat if it was developed more. But instead, the plot went in a different direction that seemed kind of out of left field.
But besides these small nitpicks, I really enjoyed the film a lot. And I would love to see more movies with these characters that explore the wizarding universe outside of the wizarding schools.
Interestingly enough, my favorite character in this film was the non-magic user, Jacob. I think his story was the most genuine and his character really stood out among the rest. I liked his passion for starting a bakery and his open mind when it came to the realm of magic. The ending scene of the movie really got to me because I enjoyed his character so much. A close second favorite would have to be Tina's younger sister, Queenie. I tend to gravitate towards the weird/ offbeat characters, and Queenie definitely fit the bill for that character archetype. I also liked Queenie's ability to read the minds of people around her. Although this concept has been done before, I liked the idea that she really doesn't have any control over it, and doesn't really try to control her powers either since she is a bit nosy by nature. She likes to try to help people to the best of her ability, no matter what method she has to use in order to do so.
At the end of the day, I think this is my favorite Harry Potter film that has been released so far. I like that it stays true to the tone and continuity of the books while at the same time creating its own universe. I really enjoyed all of the characters and I thought that the film had a great villain who was subtly introduced in the opening credits and was gradually revealed throughout the course of the movie. I would definitely recommend checking it out if you have the time. It lives up to all of the hype and has easily taken its place as my favorite Harry Potter film.
Oh? I thought it was a spin-off of Harry Potter.
4359047 Well it occurs in the same universe, but it is it's own story with new characters. It's also set in the past (the 1920s). It's a great movie. I definitely recommend checking it out. :)
I really liked that movie. It was a lot of fun.
4359570 I thought it was really good as well. :)
4359702
Think they'll make a sequel?
I hope it isn't a problem for me to give something off topic but when I read the title I thought it was "My Thoughts On Fantastic Breasts and Where to Find Them" and had to reread it
4359749 I heard that they are already filming sequels to the first film. So I am looking forward to seeing what they will come up with. :)
4359757 OMG That cracked me up. Lol
4360225
Awesome!!!
4360475 Yes indeed. XD
4360678
*deep inhale* yay
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