After the final installment of the Harry Potter series was released in 2011, fans have been waiting for something more for years.At last the film adaption of the Hogwarts textbook has been released.
The film “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” goes past the confines of Hogwarts and into the streets of 1926 New York City during the Prohibition era following Newt Scmander: a quirky, introverted wizard, magizoologist and an employee at the Ministry of Magic on his journey of travelling the world in order to document rare creatures for his book, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”.
In his suitcase (which is bigger than it appears), Newt carries the magical creatures that he has found during his travels. When his suitcase full of creatures is confused with the suitcase that belongs to the muggle, and aspiring baker Jacob Kowalski,Newt’s creatures escape and put New York in turmoil.
The film centers around protagonist Newt Scmander, accompanied by Tina Goldstein, Tina’s younger sister Queenie Goldstein, and muggle Jacob Kowalski on their adventure around New York in attempt to regain Newt’s creatures. In addition to this, they must stop Credence, a withdrawn and mysterious teenager who was adopted by an anti-witchcraft preacher who abuses him harshly. As a result of this, Credence suppresses his magic until he is approached by Gellert Grindelwald, who promises to teach him magic, but ultimately lies to him, ending in Credence becoming violent, causing wide-spread destruction and death to those who provoked him.
Eddie Redmayne’s portrayal of Newt was remarkable. His character showed a mixture of vulnerability and strength, which most people might be able to relate to. Newt was not an obvious hero, and in the beginning of the film, has a sense of mischievousness to him, but once the audience was shown the way he interacts with his creatures, they can see the true compassion and kind heart of his character.
Overall an exceptional film that brought back the wizarding nostalgia that fans have been waiting for, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” brought new and lovable characters to the silver screen. In 2018 the second installment of the five-part series will be released bringing back director David Yates, and lead actor Eddie Redmayne.