WIZARD'S TALE MISSES THE MAGIC

MOVIE

Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them

Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Colin Farrell

Director David Yeates

Review Ray Chan

THE JK Rowling-penned Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a prequel to the Harry Potter movies, is based on a fictional encyclopedia that becomes a staple reference item for students at the Hogwarts institution.
    Set in 1920s New York, the film chronicles the exploits of English adventurer and “magizoologist” Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), who is swept up in a whirlwind of chaos moments after stepping off the boat in the US.
    The somewhat eccentric Scamander accidentally swaps luggage with a local businessman, runs into a crowd of New Salem fanatics who want to kill all witches, and explores the American wizard world and its exotic inhabitants.
    The relocation provides a fascinating glimpse of the wider mythology and history in Rowling’s universe, as Scamander spends the first hour of the movie dashing about New York, chasing down mischievous creatures and sucking them into his tesseract of a suitcase, which puts Mary Poppins’ carpetbag to shame.
    Sadly, while the mystical menagerie is the focus of the movie, the critters don’t look that flash. For a movie with a $180 million budget and based on magic, Fantastic Beasts ironically lacks the magic with its mediocre animation and CGI, and some unimpressive sequences.
    It’s only when Scamander’s American counterpart Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston) leads him into the heart of the New Salem events that the story finds direction and the movie steps up a pace.
    Goldstein is a former Auror (dark wizard catcher) looking for redemption, and her emotional connection to one of the cult members gives the film the pathos and sense of depth absent up to that point.
    Dull and humdrum, Scamander is a character difficult to care about, but the strong supporting cast—including wannabe baker Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler), Tina’s sister Queenie (Alison Sudol) and troubled teen Creedence (Ezra Miller)—all give the movie more emotional heft as it reaches its climax.
    All things considered, the film is fine enough to make you forgive, if not forget, the fact that it exists primarily as a corporate enterprise and not as an imaginative tour de force to sit alongside the Potter productions themselves.

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