Hello readers,
I am back after many weeks and hopefully all of you are well. Today I decided to write out my delayed and most anticipated review on Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them. I wanted to write out a review last week, but I was hold back by my personal problems and time constraint. Last week was a tough week and so does few days, hence this review was overdue.
Starring Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander, Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them is a film based on J.K. Rowling's debut screenplay. I mentioned debut screenplay in case people choose to dispute the fact when Rowling herself confirmed that this film is based on her original screenplay.
Loosely titled based on Harry Potter universe's textbook of the same name, Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them is a story of an introverted magizoologist who travelled to New York in 1926 to pursue his own intriguing business (he has fascination for creatures and beasts). While he pursue his own business, Scamander found himself in a difficult position when his suitcase had been mistakenly taken and hence supposedly created chaos which could endanger both Wizarding and No-Maj (American term for Muggles) community.
Although Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them focuses on Scamander and the other people where time is precious and the creatures could have been endangered, the film brought more desserts to the table. Any Potter fans would be excited with all the familiar magic, terms and the way wizarding community work. This also included to the extend of having to introduced the then powerful wizard, Gellert Grindalward, who interestingly plays an important role in Albus Dumbledore's life. Knowing the reference of Grindalward, the relations between Wizarding and No-Maj Community and the laws run in America make Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them very enjoyable and also enlighten my young self who used to watch all Potter films in the Summer.
I truly loved the characters in Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them, especially Jacob Kowalski and Newt Scamander. I loved the chemistry between these two fellows and they certainly brought me laughters and tears throughout the film. Although I have seen Redmayne acting in several films (including his panned performance as Balem in Jupiter Ascending), I felt he was born to play Newt Scamander and because of that, it has already topped the list of my favourite characters in a fictional universe. This was evident during a scene where Scamander did a mating dance at the Central Park Zoo, so naturally done and it was seriously adorable not to ignore. With the addition of Dan Fogler's Jacob Kowalski, it makes the whole film more relatable and hilarious, never have I been so hyped about the characters in a film.
The setting of Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them was captivating and beautifully crafted. Taking place in the Roaring Twenties and also United States of America, anyone who catches all Harry Potter films, will be able to see the contrast between United Kingdom and United States. While the world looked brilliantly gorgeous and mesmerising, you can't helped but to notice the tension between Wizarding and No-Maj community. The tension in US is much considerably stronger than in UK and in fact, looking at the fighting styles, I would say that the American wizards aren't really well trained and equipped to fight. They are easily defeated and hence the evil tend to get the upper hand. Since we don't get to see the characters really mingling outside and only inside, for me, it was hard to distinguish the era took place. To me, the whole setting seemed quite modern instead of 1920s.
Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them is a film I wished was longer than it supposed to be. I wished I could watch more interactions between Newt Scamander and the other three people. I wished there were few more creatures involved in the fighting, although it was cool to see Swooping Evil releasing from Scamander. For Rowling to have the first screenplay written, it was pretty neat and the story flowed out well. The story was simply flawless and the plot twist was unexpected. The casting for almost all characters were perfect, especially I couldn't agree more that Eddie Redmayne was born to play Newt Scamander and it was something refreshing from his previous other roles (David Yates stated Redmayne was the first and only choice for the role!)
In conclusion, Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them was an appetiser before the main course which would only served two years later. Having Grindalward and also briefly introducing Newt's early life, I am very much anticipated to rejoin the wizarding world and hope to see more creatures in that brown suitcase. In a meantime, do grab your ticket and enter the wizarding world, enlightened the patronus in you (after five years). ;)
Ratings: 8/10
P.S. How can I resist the Niffler? Also, look out for a surprise cameo!
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