Fantastic Beasts

It’s finally here.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the first of a projected pentalogy of films. The next chapter of the Harry Potter legacy, set long before the Boy Who Lived was even born. But can it stand up to the hype? Does the magic live on? Is the Niffler the cutest little kleptomaniac ever?

Yes, on all counts.

Minor spoilers - no plot twists - to follow.

Inspired by the textbook of the same name, Fantastic Beasts is set in New York City, 1926. Relations between American wizards and Muggles – err, No-Majs – are far more strained than in jolly old Britain. MACUSA, the American Ministry of Magic, enforces strict laws of secrecy. Across the pond, the dark wizard Grindelwald is on the rise, spreading his doctrine that magic carries the right to rule. Meanwhile, among non-magical folk, a fanatical group called the Second Salemers is determined to expose witches and wizards once and for all. And a series of attacks by a shadowy monster have raised tensions to boiling point.

Into this backdrop of fear and suspicion comes Newt Scamander, a young magizoologist, fresh off the boat from England. He carries an enchanted briefcase full of magical creatures. In a city already primed for chaos, several soon manage to escape…

I like Newt. He’s a different kind of hero, all the more endearing for his quirks. Though well-meaning and passionate about his creatures, he’s just not very good with people. Sometimes he can’t even look them in the eye. He’s an awkward guy, works with animals, means to write a book.

Hmm.

Yes, well. At his side are the jovial No-Maj Jacob; the straitlaced  Auror Tina; and her sultry sister Queenie. All three become embroiled in Newt’s quest to track down his creatures. Meanwhile, the distinguished chief Auror, Percival Graves, seeks the source of the attacks. He believes the key lies with the leader of the Second Salemers, and her poor, abused son, Credence.

Yes, abused. Make no mistake. This is a dark story. The grim tone of the later Harry Potter books is established from the beginning, with a tense montage of Grindelwald’s attacks in Europe.

That said, at first the movie oscillates between two very different tones. Newt and company’s misadventures are generally lighthearted, filled with magic and comic relief. Whereas the subplot surrounding Graves and Credence gets dark indeed. The two merge during the second half, but it’s an uneven mix at first.

This is, perhaps, evidence of J.K. Rowling’s writing. Unlike Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, the screenplay for Fantastic Beasts was written by Rowling herself. Her hand shows. The movie is written like a book, in alternating chapters. A slow buildup is fine on the page, but some more urgency from the start could have helped a great deal.

It took a while before I realized what was wrong with the opening: Newt has no personal stake in the greater story. He spends the first hour or so running around on his own, chasing his beasties, isolated from the bigger picture.

Eventually, he and his creatures are blamed for the shadow’s attacks. This is where things get interesting. Now Newt and friends have a vested interest; they need to clear their names. Plotwise, it would have made sense for this to happen early on. Not more than halfway through the story. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the chase. But by the Central Park encounter, even I felt like the movie was starting to drag.

What saves Fantastic Beasts is its sense of wonder. Magic is in abundance, from flying plates to enchanted buildings. Venturing inside Newt’s briefcase is one of the best parts of the movie. His creatures’ habitats range from savannah to jungle to snowy mountainside. The creatures themselves are fascinating and diverse, from explosive rhinos to giant dung beetles. The Swooping Evil is awesome.

The climax is satisfying, too. Newt sets off on a final, desperate, Apparition-heavy chase after the shadow monster – the Obscurus – rampaging through the city, before the inevitable confrontation. The ending wraps things up nicely. I appreciated this. Fantastic Beasts does not end on a cliffhanger, unlike other recent blockbusters I could name. You’d almost think certain characters are gone for good, if they weren’t confirmed to return in the sequel.

As you’d expect, Fantastic Beasts is filled with nods to Harry Potter lore. Newt wears a scarf of Hufflepuff colours. There’s an early Quidditch reference that went right over my head. Obscurus was the name of the fictional publisher which produced the Fantastic Beasts textbook. The sign of the Deathly Hallows appears – the symbol Grindelwald took for himself.

The wand, the stone, and the cloak.

And that’s not all.

Rowling had this story in mind long before the movie deal was made. Pottermore recently made it clear that the Obscurus is not a new concept. It was hinted at in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

It’s tied to Albus Dumbledore.

In Deathly Hallows, we learned that when Dumbledore was young, he was very close with another young man, as powerful and talented as he, the two of them destined for greatness.

That young man’s name was Gellert Grindelwald.

These movies are set to span nineteen years. It’s telling that this is the era of WWII. Grindelwald’s ethos was obviously inspired by Nazism. The master race, a once-harmless icon turned to a symbol of evil. (He's blonde, too.) The story will end in 1945, the same year as Dumbledore’s climactic duel with Grindelwald, when he overthrew the tyrant who was once his friend.

Long before Harry and Voldemort, Dumbledore had his own dark rival, too.

This first movie is Newt’s story, to be sure. But it’s been confirmed that Newt won’t always be the main character. And that a young Albus Dumbledore will feature in Fantastic Beasts 2.

Grindelwald is barely there in Fantastic Beasts, but he’ll be back. He’s played by Johnny Depp, one of the few big names I actually care about. Jack Sparrow? Sweeney Todd? The Mad Hatter?

I daresay this is going to be epic.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a dark story, a social commentary on intolerance, repression and being hated for who you are. Newt’s words ring sadly true: the greatest monsters are human beings.

It’s also a brilliant addition to the Harry Potter franchise, the first chapter of a much larger tale, filled with action, emotion, adventure, and yes: fantastic beasts. Go check it out.

It was worth the wait.