Review: ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’

MAGICAL Eddie Redmayne and Katherine Waterston star in ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them’.

Cinema
Ciara Galvin

ON a recent girly holiday in The Philippines, my friends and I took the notion of going to the cinema. Now before you think ‘What a bunch of party animals’, it was the night before we flew home, so we couldn’t go mad.
Plus, I’m just so dedicated to my job that I was carrying out my duties while on annual leave, in a different continent.
‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ had piqued my interest from the trailer, I mean anything that has links with the Harry Potter series has to be good, right? Right.
We chose to see the film in 3D, and despite a false start – one of the girls who questioned the film’s visual quality; she wasn’t wearing her 3D glasses – we thoroughly enjoyed it.
A prequel to Harry Potter, the film was produced and written by JK Rowling (her screenwriting debut and inspired by her book of the same name, so that should give you some idea of what to expect.
It stars Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander, an English wizard who lands in 1920s’ New York on his way to Arizona with a Mary Poppins-like suitcase full of ‘fantastic beasts’.
All does not go to plan, and one of these magical creatures escapes, leading to a series of wild events.
Like the Harry Potter series, there are two worlds, the wizarding people trying to conceal their powers and ‘no-maj’ (non magical) people who are oblivious to them, until Newt puts that all in jeopardy.
Redmayne is likeable as Newt, an awkward type of guy who is passionate about his magical beasts. The bumbling Hugh Grant-esque performance by Redmayne began to grate a tad towards the end, but still, he was perfect for the role.
Katherine Waterston plays down-to-earth Auror ‘Tina’ who works for the Magical Congress of the United States of America but has been demoted after making a blunder.
Two stand-out characters from the movie are Jacob and Queenie. Dan Fogler takes the role as the loveable ‘no maj’ that gets swept up in the magical world and joins in the motley crew of wizarding outcasts. Tina’s sister Queenie, played by Alison Sudol, added a really sweet side to the film, which at points is very dark and quite scary.
The free-spirited witch is a mind reader, which makes for some humorous moments throughout, and her forged relationship with Jacob is the epitome of sweet.
As mentioned, there is a dark side to this. Rowling has written a plot that will remind Potter fans of the Voldemort saga, as Colin Farrell plays the character of Percival Graves, a character the audience can’t quite warm to, despite his role high up in the wizarding world.
The 3D was well worth it. The fantastic beasts really do come to life before your eyes, ducking and diving away from their owner.
This is a fabulous film. It would get top marks, but it does feel a little dragged out towards the end. But maybe that was just me getting anxious about the trek back to Ireland the following day.

Rating 8 out of 10