Nervous as we all were about this new venture, Fantastic Beasts proves itself worthy of its notable talent and high expectations. Sure enough, this is no Harry Potter, and it has little in it worthy of much comparison. Whereas the Potter series thematically concerns itself with death, friendship, courage, love, and hope in its coming of age narrative, Newt Scamander's new series seems (at least from its initial installment) more interested in empowerment and autonomy, cleverness and kindness, multiculturalism and diversity, and just a dash of environmentalism. As you might be wondering, yes, this is about as timely as we could want.
It's also unabashedly fun. Eddie Redmayne's Newt is immediately lovable, sweet and quirky, lost in his own mind (and, often, briefcase). Apparently an ex-Hufflepuff, he finds himself quite alone in New York City in the early 1920s -- during the reign of terror of one Gellert Grindelwald -- having come to America to release one of his prize pets in its natural habitat, Newt knows precious little of the Jazz Age and American magical culture. We experience his awe at the detailed cityscape, replete with bobs and pinstripes, speakeasies and typically ignorant No-Majs (the unfortunately named Muggles this side of the pond). While Newt seems all too ready to reveal himself to a No-Maj named Jacob (the scene-stealing Dan Fogler), the ruling magical body MACUSA strictly enforces the secrecy and submission of its citizens. When Jacob inadvertently releases several magical creatures from Newt's care, an ex-Auror named Tina and her sister Queenie get involved. Together, they recapture the lost animals in lovely mini-adventures around the period city.
Of course, JK Rowling couldn't make the film so simple. So in addition to the mesmerizing period detail, she deftly sets up a dual plot, laying down only the skeletal tracks of the latter to, presumably, be fully realized in subsequent films. The second plot concerns young Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller), an abused orphan whose adoptive mother (Samantha Morton) preaches publicly for witch hunts. Her bigotry and violence may seem a bit cheap to those of us familiar with the likes of Bellatrix Lestrange or Dolores Umbridge, but its blatant cruelty stand out in the otherwise buoyant film as impeccably timely.
The film's allegory for empowerment of suppressed culture is made perhaps most abundantly clear in young Credence, a character who is ultimately described as a Squib, but whose repression at the hands of his abusive mother has created a dark force of destructive power, the very force that has been wreaking havoc on the city. Percival Graves (played to perfection by Colin Farrell), a chief Auror, has secretly made Credence his informant through false promises and one of the most chemically intoxicating seductions of the year. Handsome, charming, and single-mindedly Machiavellian, Graves seems hellbent on discovering the violent spirit spreading chaos across the city, and when he does find it, his intentions for it become alarmingly clear only just before his disguise is stripped away.
Dressed in impeccable Colleen Atwood originals, Colin Farrell steals the whole movie away. He looks like a sort of Cruella deVille, and his presence onscreen is at once pleasing and fearsome. His only rival in show-stopping glory is Carmen Ejogo as Seraphina Picquery, President of MACUSA, though the film doesn't use her nearly enough.
What else can we say? The film moves almost too fast at times, and it will require multiple viewings to get all the references and Easter eggs. Watch out for news headlines, names bandied about, background creatures, and a certain symbolic necklace, to warn you about just a few. It's so packed with visual magic that, at times, the film feels anything but magical, and the action gets airy and inconsequential. The movie doesn't delve much into any backstories for the characters or even American culture, and it spends a fair amount of time setting up what will surely be the narrative trajectory of any subsequent films. While the film's obvious pandering to its target audience may cause us some irritation, there can be no doubt that seasoned director David Yates is fully in his element. His awareness of style and heart have few matches in modern big-budget cinema.
IMDb: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
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