First
off, I can I say how interesting it was to go into a Potterverse movie and not
know what was going to happen? I always
watch an original film differently than I do an adaptation, and it was neat to
have that original-film experience within such a familiar adaptation
setting. Anyway, I expected to enjoy
this movie, but I’m almost a little surprised at how much I loved it (premise
spoilers.)
In
1926, the globetrotting wizard Newt Scamander arrives in New York City. A dedicated magizoologist, Newt is passionate
about finding and protecting magical creatures that are threatened by the
wizarding community (either exploited due to opportunism or killed due to fear
and/or ignorance.) He’s out of his
element among the U.S. wizarding society, which is marked by stringent secrecy from
the fear left by the country’s lingering Puritan influences, and he doesn’t
exactly endear himself to ex-Auror Tina when a few of the creatures he keeps in
his magical suitcase give him the slip and go walkabout. The city is at a tipping point, magically,
and it’s of vital importance that Newt, Tina, and a few other new friends
recover the creatures before they draw the attention of the Muggles (yeah, I
know American wizards say “No-Maj,” but I don’t care – Muggles forever!)
It’s
not a perfect movie. You can tell the
plot is still kind of getting warmed up, and there are a few expositional
missteps. It doesn’t feel like it’s
quite decided yet how much it wants to stand on its own vs. being tied to
established Potter lore – the references we get to the original series feel a
little conspicuous. Also, with the multicultural
wizard presence in New York, it is disappointing to see only one PoC character
of any significance. However, it does
lay some wonderful groundwork for the new chapter J.K. Rowling is building
here. I love getting a look at wizards
in another country and wish we could’ve gotten more of that, and the movie does
a bang-up job exploring its main themes (I’ll save more spoilery thoughts on
this for another post.)
We’re
still getting to know the new characters, but I’m pretty much sold. Eddie Redmayne’s Newt is especially great –
for me, the scenes of him looking after his beasts would be enough to cover the
cost of admission. I also love the
inclusion of Jacob (Dan Fogler of 25th
Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Tony glory!), a Muggle who gets caught up
in all the magical goings-on. It didn’t
really strike me until I saw Newt’s disapproval of American wizards’ strict
rules concerning fraternization with Muggles, but the original books really
don’t have any positive Muggle
characters with important roles, so it’s nice to see magical and non-magical
cooperation here. Sisters Tina and
Queenie (played by Katherine Waterson and Alison Sudol, neither of whom I’m
that familiar with) are portrayed with classic night-and-day contrast without
pitting them against each other or setting one’s methods up as indisputably “better”
than the other’s, which I appreciate.
The film also features Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower’s Ezra
Miller doing some fine work.
Oh
yeah, and beasts! They truly are fantastic. I love them and all their havoc-causing ways.
Warnings
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