Youngsters might also be frustrated at the somewhat pedestrian opening stages and exposition of this new world of wizards and Prohibition. The film, though, is often dark – perhaps too much so for the younger members of the audience. If this all sounds quite heady, be assured this is not always the case.

Their names illustrate that the film is pitting the certainty of arrogant, intolerant and dogmatic ideology against a more human, merciful, and compassionate humility. This is most aptly seen in the final third of the film, which is concerned with the fate of two children – Credence (Ezra Miller) and Modesty (Faith Wood-Blagrove). The film does not hesitate to showcase the vitriol of movements based on a dehumanising objectification of the ‘other’. Beasts could easily have been set in modern-day America, as it treatises the place of the marginalised immigrant trying to find safety amidst angry, fundamentalist zealotry in a fear-governed society. Kowalski must come to terms with a world he never knew existed, while a dark magical force is blazing a trail of seemingly random destruction across the Big Apple.Īt the heart of it all is a typically frenetic performance from Redmayne, while the rest of the cast busy themselves building a believable world where fear of the other creates a near-hysteric dread of mass violence, which in the current climate is an all-too-apt and important metaphor. Before long, things are getting out of hand. A mix-up in a bank draws a No-Maj (American for Muggle, someone who has no magical powers), Dan Folger’s likeable Kowalski, into Scamander’s world. Set in New York in 1926, the film follows the adventures of Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), a wizard adventurer who has collected and documented a vast array of magical creatures.

However, the film is probably 20 minutes too long and might fail to hold the attention of some younger viewers, who will also struggle to empathise with Fantastic Beasts’ motley crew of adult wizards as they did with the much-loved students of Hogwarts. Most Potter fans will go home happy, and there is enough to intrigue and satisfy even those who might be casting a line into the waters of wizardry for the first time. It sits comfortably in the territory of ‘Harry Potter for grown-ups’. If you know your Muggles from your House Elves, the chances are that this is a production you have been looking forward to, and you’ll know that it has something to do with the book Harry and his schoolmates study at Hogwarts.Įven if you didn’t know any of that, there was every reason to have high expectations of this film, with its $180 million budget, key Potter-world creatives behind it and a familiar cast. Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudolįantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them is JK Rowling’s first screenplay, brought to life by David Yates, who rose to prominence by directing the last four Harry Potter films.

Fantastic beast and to find them