Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Harry Potter has become such a monolithic and divisive franchise at this point that it’s difficult for me to come to a solid conclusion on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I have been a fan of the books for most of my life, beginning when my teacher read them to my first grade class. “Nostalgic” doesn’t even begin to cover how I feel about this world. But despite that, I still believe Fantastic Beasts is a universally good movie, if a bit lopsided.

Taking place in 1926, the movie follows the misadventures of Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), his non-magical acquaintance Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler), disgraced magical cop Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston), and her telepathic sister Queenie (Alison Sudol). Scamander is an eccentric, introverted magizoologist (like a regular zoologist, but for magical animals, obviously) from England recently arrived in New York with a mysterious enchanted suitcase and an even more mysterious agenda. He is quickly swept up in the local controversies, all revolving around recent attacks by a mysterious creature that threatens to put the magical and non-magical communities at war with one another, and must navigate the tense American magical landscape in order to save himself, his allies, the city of New York, and his animal companions from harm.

Now. If that sounds a little bit busy and unfocused to you, that’s because it is. Fantastic Beasts has a serious issue with structure. The entire first act consists of set-ups and leads that are so scattered, it’s difficult to piece together exactly why anything we’re seeing is important on any level. Act two and three manage to bring them closer and to a unified end, respectively, but that rocky start did not do the film any favors. Couple that with the fact that movie is unconcerned with explaining anything about this world (it assumes if you’re here, you’re already familiar with Harry Potter to a degree), and you get something that threatens to be nigh-incomprehensible.

There is, however, a key element that manages to save the film from its huge, glaring structural issue: the characters. This is a fun, well-rounded group of people that draw you in with completely relatable personal desires, as well as the brilliant subtleties the actors convey throughout. A stand-out performer is hard to pinpoint, but there are several candidates.

Starting from the top is Eddie Redmayne’s Newt Scamander. Redmayne’s quiet eccentricity is a refreshing change of pace for the usually boisterous eccentric hero we see in this sort of film. And that reserved energy lends itself to allow for a greater sharing of the spotlight. The non-magical Jacob Kowalski played by Dan Fogler threatens to steal every scene he’s in with his lovable nervous enthusiasm at everything magical going on around him. And Katharine Waterson and Alison Sudol both bring in equally enjoyable performances that nicely round out the leading quartet. This is much more of an ensemble piece and the movie benefits greatly from the sharing of character importance.

The effects are nicely implemented, if overdone at times. While you may not totally believe in the creatures themselves, you certainly believe Scamander’s connection to them. Emotional connection and chemistry are a vital part of this movie's DNA and it’s these strong factor that pulls everything together.

Fantastic Beasts may not have been as fantastic as I would have liked, but it still managed to wrap up admirably and provide solid entertainment throughout. Coming from a lifelong fan of J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World, I was reasonably pleased and patiently await the next chapter in this era of the saga. And I think anyone could be too, to an extent.

Score: B