Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Read Time:5 Minute, 25 Second

Ryan Shanker ’20

The Plot

A spin-off of the wildly successful Harry Potter film series, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them centers around the eccentric British wizard Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), who keeps a mysterious suitcase filled with magical and benevolent creatures that he hopes to study and make the focus of a publication. This seemingly foolproof plan is thrown for a loop when a creature obsessed with finding gold escapes while Newt travels through a New York City bank. The creature, known as a Niffler, is caught by Newt, but Newt’s suitcase is accidentally switched with an identical one belonging to goofy Muggle baker Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler).

However, before Newt realizes his mistake, he is caught by Magical Congress wizard Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston) because he did not erase Jacob’s memory of magic. Jacob, being the Muggle doofus he is, accidentally lets loose the entire suitcase of beasts, and the creatures then proceed to destroy his apartment, non-fatally bite him, and escape into the depths of New York. Newt, Jacob, Tina, and Tina’s wizard sister, Queenie (Alison Sudol), are forced to team up and track down each creature.

The Review

From the get-go, Fantastic Beasts faced a huge challenge: t
o live up to and even maybe surpass the Harry Potter films. I will say firsthand that the movie is unable to accomplish this almost impossible feat, but it makes a pretty valiant effort at most. Fantastic Beasts also faced another challenge: to set up a 1920s wizarding world and to have each character play main roles in the five-film series. While the movie is far from perfect, it isn’t complete garbage.

The Cast

The film boasts an under-the-radar cast whose only true stars are Eddie Redmayne and possibly Colin Farrell (Percival Graves). Redmayne is very charming and captivating as Newt. However, many of the rare jokes that supplement his character fall completely flat, as Newt’s introversion and lack of social skills provide him with absolutely no comic presence. Newt’s charm also wears off in the final scene during which he departs New York, as this scene is more awkward and questionable than it is heartwarming. Luckily, Newt’s lack of comic presence is made up for with the character Jacob Kowalski. Jacob is the Everyman of the group and provides an outsider’s perspective that would probably be offered by any Muggle thrown into this plot.

Being a Muggle isn’t all Jacob has to offer however. He also serves as a comic relief. His line that he isn’t dreaming because he “don’t got the brains to make this up” is as hilarious as it is charming. On the flip side, the only other thing he does is land a couple of well-placed punches to many characters, including Newt. Then we have the Goldstein sisters, Tina and Queenie. Tina’s job at The Magical Congress (MACUSA) puts her in a bad spot because it requires her to be by-the-book and stubborn, as evidenced by her arrestation of Newt early in the movie. Tina is not endearing in any way, a personality quirk that isn’t improved by Waterston’s one-dimensional performance. She also has no chemistry with Newt, her supposed love interest.

At the other end of the spectrum is the optimistical
ly goofy Queenie. Although Queenie is nothing more than a blond-girl-stereotype, Sudol’s chemistry with Fogler and likable portrayal elevate her above the rest of the cast. The minor characters are passable, as there are no standouts and only one questionable decision. Farrell, Carmen Ejogo (MACUSA President Seraphina Picquery), and Ron Perlman (goblin bartender Gnarlack) are welcomed additions to the movie, while Ezra Miller, who plays Credence Barebone, the adopted son of the leader of an extremist group devoted to killing wizards, is blatantly miscast. Miller’s attempt at being timid and too scared to voice his feeling comes off as being whiny and annoying. In the end, the cast is pretty decent, with Fogler, Sudol, and maybe Redmayne as the standouts but Waterston and Miller as the duds.

The Plot and the Effects

The plot is incredibly muddled, as it seems to shoehorn two separate stories into one, an attempt that is weird because the story is supposed to be a five-film series. The first story is the one everyone expected, the one in which Newt and his buddies attempted to corral each of the beasts. The beasts are absolutely stunning, as the CGI is incomparable, especially that of the Occamy, a blue, snake-like dragon that has the ability to shrink or expand to any size. There are also three other beasts that need to be caught: the Niffler, the invisible Dougal, and the rhinoceros-like Erumpent.

This first story is very interesting, as Newt’s and Jacob’s attempts to catch each beast is met with some decently funny consequences, as evidenced in the scene during which Newt completely destroys a jewelry store in order to recapture the Niffler. However, another plot is brewing in the background, and it involves Percival Graves and Credence Barebone. This secondary plot is completely confusing, as it involves an entity called the Obscurus, which is prevalent in children and suppresses their magic. Graves believes that the Obscurus is inside Credence’s adoptive sister, Modesty. The Obscurus ravages New York City and even kills a U.S. senator (Josh Cowdery) who opposes magic as well.

Newt, with the help of Graves, is able to contain the Obscurus and kill it in its human form. However, J.K. Rowling, the film’s screenwriter, wraps up the story in a perfect manner, setting up a sequel that won’t waste any time picking up where the first film left off. Right after Newt’s success comes a mind-blowing CGI masterpiece in which the MACUSA workers repair the city after the Obscurus ravages it. I do need to bring up the dreadful goodbye scene between Tina and Newt, however, as it does partly ruin the two aforementioned scenes with its awkwardness, lack of chemistry, terrible writing, and Newt’s loss of charm.

The Verdict

Although there are many imperfections (the final scene, Waterston and Miller, the secondary plot), Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them does serve its greatest purpose: to soothe the Harry Potter nostalgia. It does a pretty damn good job, and for that, I give it three stars.