The film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them, directed by David Yates, is a movie based on the original novel written by J.K. Rowling with the same name. The book is set in the same universe as the Harry Potter series and, rightfully so, it is just as magical. This story is a sweeping epic containing wizards, magic, the 20’s, and of course; beasts. But, in the end, does this movie live up to Rowling’s original works?

For a quick plot summary, in the mid 1920’s a British wizard and magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddy Redmayne) arrives in New York City planning to go to Arizona to release a magical creature called a “Thunderbird”. While in New York, he is caught by a No-Maj, (non-wizard), named Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler), when a creature escapes Scamander’s magical suitcase. Another wizard named Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston) also catches Scamander exposing his wizardry powers and creatures to No-Maj’s, and takes him in to put him under arrest. Little did Jacob Kowalski know, he accidentally took Scamander’s magic case and releases some of the creatures into New York. Now it is up to all of them to get these creatures back and into their habitat enclosure in the suitcase. Meanwhile, a major figure in the Magical Congress of the United States of America, (MCUSA), Percival Graves (Colin Farrell), is plotting a scheme against the Congress to seek unlimited power for himself, and has the help of an orphan boy named Credence (Erza Miller), to help him with his evil plot. Thus begins the adventures in Fantastic Beasts.

The movie itself was actually quite a fun adventure, which, in my opinion, is owing greatly to the fact that J.K. Rowling herself had a big role to play in writing the screenplay. The film definitely sucks you right into the action right from the beginning, as it kicks off with one creature escaping, and then creating this sort of domino effect for the hero and everyone else that is dragged along. The film definitely gives the impression of something magical, especially with the CGI, as it is very well done and it feels as if you are in their world filled with magic spells and creatures. The acting also helps with the immersion as well, considering the cast and their immense talents. A few grievances, and these may be more personal rather than actual flaws, but it did feel like some of the characters were a bit “mumbly” and their dialogue bordered on incoherent. Sometimes it was the audio itself, but mostly it was the actors, which kind of takes away from the experience a bit because you’re trying to backtrack and try to make out what that character just said. With that being said, there is also the issue that this is more of a film for fans of Harry Potter rather than a stand-alone. While, yes, I did have fun watching the movie, there was also the fact that I haven’t really read the books and I only saw 2 or 3 films when I was little, and it is a bit important to have a decent knowledge of the lore of Harry Potter considering the twist ending which, personally, left me kind of confused, and afterwards I had to have a friend explain it.

At the end of the day, besides the minor grievances, the movie was very enjoyable. Hopefully, the future sequels will be as good or possible even better than this opening to this series. On a scale of one to ten, I give it a 7/10.