Review || Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

*SPOILERS*

This is a long, in depth review / analysis of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Background

In 2011 Harry Potter fans worldwide celebrated the release of the final film in the series. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 symbolised an end of an era - or so we thought. Flash forward 6 years and Harry Potter fans have been spoilt more than we could have imagined. We have been treated to Pottermore, The Warner Brothers Studio Tour, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child and of course Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

The book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was released in 2001 by JK Rowling, under the fictional name Newt Scamander. It served as a text book for the Harry Potter characters, giving information about the magical creatures in the wizarding world. The idea was that this was one of Harry’s own text books so this meant that it was full of scribblings from Ron and Herminone. The money raised from the release of the book went to the Comedy Relief charity.

The fact that the book is a mere 88 pages long and is more or less an encyclopaedia, made the news of a film release very surprising indeed. It was revealed shortly after that there would in fact be three films! Just as fans were debating how this tiny book could possibly be stretched across three films, Rowling announced that there would now be five Fantastic Beasts films. This just seemed to be getting Riddikulus! It was assumed that the Fantastic Beasts film would have a new story and follow how Newt came to write the Fantastic Beasts book.

The films itself serves as JK Rowling’s screenwriting debut and she’s done well. The film has the same magical feel that the others before it had, but in a slightly different way. It was suspected that this would be the case, given that the film is set in America in the 1920s. There are other things that make the film feel different from the rest of the franchise. The main actor, Eddie Redmayne, was already an oscar winner before undertaking the role of Newt Scamander. This is different to the main Potter films in that the main trio were unknown to the world. This meant that the audience did not already have a feeling towards the actors and the types of characters they play, meaning they could lose themselves in the Harry Potter characters they portrayed. With Eddie’s face already being so recognisable, this was not done as easily.

As a person who likes to live in the past, I adore John William’s scores from the from the first three films. He penned the most recognisable theme in the Potter series - Hedwig’s Theme. Sadly, after Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Williams left to pursue other projects. If I had my way he would have stayed throughout the entire potter franchise, including Fantastic Beasts. However, James Newton Howard’s music for Fantastic Beasts does do the job.

David Yates returns to direct Fantastic Beasts after directing Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix, Harry Potter and the Half - Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. This impressive record means he has directed more of the Harry Potter franchise than any of the other directors hired throughout the series. His style form the original series carries onto Fantastic Beasts.

Plot

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them acts as a sort of prequel / spin-off to the original Harry Potter story. It is set in 1926 New York and follows Newt Scamander, before he has written the famous text book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Newt is an English wizard who is on his way to Arizona to release a thunderbird. The first thing that is noticeable is the fact that Newt takes a boat to America. This seems odd as we know that wizards can disappear and reappear anywhere within seconds. This stands to reason that either apparition is impossible while carrying a suitcase full of magical creators, or that Yates just wanted to make it obvious that Scamander was in fact a visitor to America. The boat trip also allowed some bonding time for Newt and his creatures, which starts to give us an idea of his caring personality (go hufflepuffs).

From here the main plot is fairly simple. Newt crosses paths with a muggle (or No-Maj) called Jacob. After a tricky situation with Newt’s niffler at a bank, the pair accidentally swap suitcases. This leads to Jacob unknowingly taking home hundreds of magical creatures. Before too long, the broken case bursts open and several of Newt’s creatures escape. We then follow Jacob and Newt as they attempt to retrieve all the creatures before they cause too much damage. Along the way they meet Tina Goldsteen (a former Auror) and Queenie Goldstein (Tina’s free spirit sister). The sisters both try to turn Newt in for his crimes as well as try to help him.

Jacob and Queenie share an instant attraction to each other. This is overshadowed by the knowledge that Jacob is a No-Maj and will eventually need to have his memory removed. Strict laws in America also state that magical people cannot befriend or interact with No-Maj people. However, is it quite sweet to see both Jacob’s amazement at the wizarding world along with Queenie’s fascination with him.

Alongside the main story of the capture of the magical creatures, is the arguable more enticing one of the New Salem Philanthropic Society. The society is run by Mary Lou, an abusive adoptive mother to many children. She pushes the children to spread the message of the society which is that witches and wizards are real and dangerous. She particularly picks on Credence who is older than the others in the society, being in his early 20s.

The society has been even more adamant in the existence of magic recently as strange things have been happening around New York. There have been buildings ruined, people killed and streets ripped up. All of this right in front of the muggle’s eyes. Credence is approached by Graves, a MACUSA worker looking for a child who he believes to be an obscurus. An obscurus is a new concept in this film and is an interesting one. An obscurus is a rare powerful dark force / creature that is created when a person with magical abilities attempts to suppress their powers. The force is often uncontrollable and capable of killing many. In fact, it is so powerful that those attached to the obscurus usually never live past the age of 10.

Graves leads Credence to believe that he will help Credence fulfil his secret wish of joining the wizarding world if he helps him find the child obscurus that has been reeking havoc in New York. It is slowly revealed that Grave’s intentions might not be as kind or admirable as he would like Credence and the MACUSA to believe. He acts ‘for the greater good’, which for potter fans means the exact opposite of what it says. Our first hint that Graves is not so trust worthy is when he gives Credence a necklace with the deathly hallows symbol. We know from previous films and books that this was the symbol of the dark wizard Grindelwald. It is assumed that Graves is one of his disciples, attempting to use the dark magic of the obscurus to help Grindelwald overpower muggles and No-Majs.

Credence finds a wand while searching his sister Modesty’s room. The audience is lead to believe that she is the obsurus. Mary Lou finds Credence with the wand but modesty claims it is hers. Mary Lou ignores this and prepares to beat Credence. At this point, the obscurus is unleashed and kills everyone in the building except Modesty and Credence. Credence is traumatised and is sat crying over his dead mother. Graves then turns up, believing to have found the obsurus, Modesty. He turns on Credence telling him that he is a squib with no magical ability. He tells him he cannot and will not teach him magic and that his dead mother is his ‘reward’. Credence is heart broken to find that not only had his one friend used him but that he cannot become as wizard. He begins shaking and suddenly the obsurus bursts from him. It is revealed that he was in fact magical and the oldest obsurus ever known.

Credence / the obsurus fly through New York ripping apart buildings, blowing up cars and pulling up pavements. He eventually ends up in a subway, surrounded by muggle spectators and police. He is joined by Newt who attempts to calm him down. Newt has managed to detach an obsurus from it’s host once before an believes he can do that same for Credence. However, just as he is making progress with Credence, the MACUSA arrives and kills Credence on the spot. Graves reveals his anger at what his colleges have done. He insists that magical people should not live in hiding but should rule muggles. He refuses to follow the rules of the MACUSA anymore. At this point he is arrested and his true identity is revived by Newt who cases a revelio charm on him. Graves is not a disciple Grindelwald but Grindelwald himself, who is played by Johnny Depp. He is taken away by the MACUSA.

This is the moment when Newt, Queenie and Tina must say goodbye to Jacob as the MACUSA insist it is time for his memory to be wiped. This is a touching moment and heartbreaking to say the least. Poor Jacob must say goodbye to the amazing world he has only just been introduced to as well as his love Queenie. However, we are left with the impression that perhaps not all the memories of the magical world are completely gone from Jacob’s memory. He starts his own bakery where all the products seem to resemble creatures from the magical world. Jacob just can’t think where he gets these ideas.

Conclusion

So overall, this film was a lot better than my expectations. In my opinion, the credit goes completely to the obscures storyline. Before seeing the film, I expected it to be a simple yet quirky story of a silly Englishman chasing his magical creatures all over New York. This is of course what we got, but we also got substance from the darker side of the story. We learn more about Credence and Graves than we do about Newt. It would have been nice to have some background on Newt and what his motives are. All we really know is that he’s a charming young man who loves animals and was kicked out of Hogwarts for some reason. Not really enough to entice to audience. Jacob and his reaction to the wizarding world was much more entertaining. The most exciting thing to come from this film is the idea of what is to come. Will we get to see Grindelwald’s rein? Will we see his relationship with a young Albus Dumbledore? Or will we perhaps learn more about Albus’ sister Ariana, who might well be an obsurus? Only time will tell. For now all we know is that Potter fans have several more years until we must retire back to our dark caves where we wait for the next instalment from the wizarding world.

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