Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)
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Review #1,374 |
THE SCOOP
Director: David Yates
Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Colin Farrell, Ezra Miller, Alison Sudol
Plot: The adventures of writer Newt Scamander in New York's secret community of witches and wizards seventy years before Harry Potter reads his book in school.
Genre: Adventure / Fantasy
Awards: Won 1 Oscar - Best Costume Design. Nom. for 1 Oscars - Best Production Design
Runtime: 133min
Rating: PG for some fantasy action violence.
Distributor: Warner Bros
IN RETROSPECT (Spoilers: NO)
“Aww, I
wanna be a wizard.”
It has been five years since the last ‘Harry
Potter' movie, but while the frenzy has died down somewhat, and it is
impossible for Warner Bros to predict how screen extensions to the Potterverse
would fare in a world more fixated with the Marvel and DC movies, the decision
to greenlight a new franchise of five films, starting with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, is as I would like to see it, an inspired one, at least from the
quality of the first instalment.
David Yates returns to direct, no doubt his familiarity
with the fantastic world of wizards and wands is paying dividends. Together with J.K. Rowling, who delivers her
first screenplay (which is excellent by the way), they bring us back to the
magic of old, yet this is a brand new story with a touch of darkness and a
lighter touch of warmth.
Fantastic
Beasts
stars Eddie Redmayne as Newt, a young Englishman who travels to New York in
search of lost beasts to tame and care for.
He meets two key figures whom I'm sure will continue to play major roles
in the subsequent movies—Tina (Katherine Waterson, who first caught my eye in
P.T. Anderson's Inherent Vice (2014))
and Kowalski (Dan Fogler in a bumbling, charming performance).
They meet other characters, both inherently
good and ambivalently evil, as they serve up a story that is not only
well-told, but one that is satisfying enough to pave way for what will surely be
another big screen popular culture phenomenon.
As usual, this is a tale of light and darkness,
magic and sorcery. Newt, in the middle
of the maelstrom that is to unfold which threatens to reveal the wizards and
witches in our midst, is seen to be malignant by the authorities, while he
tries to prove his innocence and worth—with the aid of his assortment of
creatures hidden in the cavernous world of his briefcase.
The visual effects are top-notch, some of the
finest I’ve seen this year, though one could tell that the filmmakers have
tried to restraint themselves, not just in service to the narrative, but also
to pique our curiosity. I’m sure in time
to come these fantastic beasts, happily in Newt’s expanding collection, will feature
more prominently and become wholly integral to the development of the franchise.
Verdict: The magic of old with a largely involving newfound
story combine in what is a decent beginning to what will surely be another big
screen popular culture phenomenon.
GRADE: B+
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