WARNING: This article contains spoilers to Fantastic Beasts. Do not read past this point if you do not wish to know what happened.
Niffler, Bowtruckle, and Swooping Evil, oh my! These three are just a few of the many new creatures that are found in J.K. Rowling’s newest product of wondrous magic, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.” Fantastic Beasts follows Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), Porpentina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston), and Jacob Kowalski (Dan Folger) as they work to recapture magical creatures that have escaped from Scamandar’s possession.
I went into this film with with extremely high hopes. Being a devout Harry Potter fan, I was expecting great things from J.K. Rowling, and she did not disappoint. Here are some likes and dislikes to the film.
1. The core cast of Scamandar, Kowalski, Porpentina & Queenie Goldstein.
Like - The cast works extremely well together. The bits of banter, especially between Scamandar an Goldstein are nice as we get to know our new group. The flirtatious affair between Queenie and Kowalski is also one of the cutest things ever.
Dislike - While I was very emotionally pleased with Rowling’s ending for Kowalski, I am displeased at the thought that we may no longer see him. Kowalski offers a great view on how muggles, or in this case a No-Maj is affected by the magical world. Hopefully, do to the films final scene he will return, but we shall just have to wait and see. Also I miss the fact that we didn’t call non-magical people muggles. Calling them a No-Maj just seems lazy, but many people in America are lazy.
2. New villain(s).
Like - I think the villain or villains that are portrayed were excellent to the storyline. Now that Voldemort is history, or I guess the future, the new bad guy has a lot to live up to before we fight him as we did with he who must not be named. I also enjoyed the fact that the bad guy was not the central focus of this one. He was more of a background thought that we knew was there, but did not think about outright.
Unsure - It is disappointing that at the moment there is no apparent word that the original Graves will return to the series. Also, Iam still not positive how I feel about Johnny Depp being cast in what will most likely be a very pivotal role of Grindelwald to our new wizarding series. With this being an American based story, Depp is in a key place to become even greater then he already is. At the same time, if Rowling and the producers/directors aren’t careful, this series could turn into a major Depp fiasco as many of his films do, which could pull away from the important story that Rowling is working to deliver.
3. Second Salemers.
Like - I enjoy how the Second Salemers give a view to the times of America and how the fear of magic had shaped the wizarding community of America. They were also a great filler for the movie to help keep it from becoming too slow.
Dislike - However, I wish they would have done more with our group of Salemers. While yes, they did end up playing a big role, I think it could have been interesting for them to progress. Hopefully in the sequels we will see a deeper dive into their world.
4. Harry Potter vs. Fantastic Beasts.
Like - It is a very good team up. The story is done very well in the connection between the two different series. I also think that the connection between the United States and Great Britain is an outstanding way to spread the Wizarding World.
Dislike - We can see why they had to delve back in time for this story. If you look at America during the time of Harry Potter, heck even America now, anyone can see that we have enough problems already without adding magical problems into the mix. I guess this is more of a dislike of the times of America then times of the movie.
5. Final Thoughts.
Overall, I will say that while it did not surpass expectations, it did meet them. After all, my expectations were pretty high for this film. I look forward to see what Rowling and the team at Warner Bros. has in store. With a total of five movies planned, this series has an opportunity to inspire a new generation of Harry Potter/Wizarding World fans. If you are looking to see a movie, I will recommend this one to anyone who asks. It has darker parts. It has pieces that will make you laugh, and as always there are a couple of places that will cause you to bawl like baby. Those last twenty or so minutes brought everything together with so many ranges of emotions. So, while it was a little slow in the beginning, in the end I give Fantastic Beasts an
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