Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them (2016)
Review: 3/5
Synopsis
During a visit to New York, wizard Newton Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), who is researching for a book about the amazing and fantastical creatures that abound in the magic world, accidentally lets some of them out. Accompanied by the non-magical Kowalski (Dan Fogler) and sister witches Tina (Katherine Waterston) and Queenie (Alison Sudol) he sets out to retrieve them. But dark forces are at work, as the Big Apple is chewed up by a mysterious and incredibly powerful creature linked to the home of the vehemently anti-witch Mary Lou (Samantha Morton). Her son Credence (Ezra Miller) and daughter Modesty (Faith Wood-Blagrove) hold the key to its identity; dark wizard Graves (Colin Farrell) will stop at nothing to find it and harness its power for his own means.
Review, by Jason Day
Author J.K. Rowling, the phenomenon behind the Harry Potter franchise (as if you didn't know), takes a bow for her first proper screenwriting credit to this, an adaptation of her 'Potter prequel', set in 1926 but still within the dark arts universe she first created with '...the Philosopher's Stone' way back in 1997.
Thankfully for Rowling and fans of Harry Potter (and producers/distributors Heyday Films and Warner Brothers) she painted on as broad a canvas as possible, leaving many possibilities for a wizarding world long after Potter was retired.
I write this review as an avowed non-Potter fan (the books and early films made me fall asleep) but also a determined admirer of fantasy films - in all honestly, where is the fun in sitting through, digesting and remembering an encyclopaedic roll call of names, descriptions, events or groups? Its noun overload!
This is a well-made film with the best production $160m can provide and exceptional acting from a talented cast but, with four other sequels in the pipeline, and now we've got the epic film series introductory instalment out the door, can we the filmmakers concentrate on story and character rather than things and stuff? Watch this space.
For more, see the full review: here
Cast & credits
Director: David Yates. 133mins. Heyday Films/Warner Bros. (12a).
Producers: David Heyman, Steve Kloves, J.K. Rowling, Lionel Wigram.
Writer: J.K. Rowling.
Camera: Philippe Rousselot.
Music: James Newton Howard.
Sets: Stuart Craig, James Hamdige.
Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Samantha Morton, Jon Voight, Carmen Ejogo, Colin Farrell, Johnny Depp, Gemma Chan, Zoe Kravitz, Ron Perlman.
