Review — Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Despite being almost definitely the most consistent big-screen mega-franchise in history, I’ve never really had much of a passion for the Harry Potter flicks. I adored and devoured the books from ages 9–17, but the films never inspired that same devotion. That being said, I came to admire David Yates, director of the final half of the series, as he grew into the role and was able to deliver some spectacular action scenes and get the best out of his young lead actors. However, I got the sense while watching this one that he has lost a fair amount of his zeal for this universe, with a tone that feels uninspired and almost pedestrian about the magic at times.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the first in what we already know is a prequel pentalogy for Rowling’s wizarding world, which I’m referring to as the JOHNNY DEPP: WIZARD HITLER saga. Despite purportedly being about magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne, who appears to have been told to do the Subdued Matt Smith in every scene) collecting escaped beasts in 1920s New York, it becomes clear extremely early on that this is only a mild framing device to set up the full series — even the opening, while well-made, is essentially a blast of newspaper-headline exposition about Grindelwald, the aforementioned Wizard Hitler.
Once that’s over, we do spend a little time with Newt, and it becomes clear there just isn’t enough character there to fill in a proper lead. Redmayne is somewhat dull, but it’s hard for me to blame him considering Scamander is given very little in the script — he’s clearly meant to be a charming, foppish protagonist, but most of this charm feels assumed rather than earned. We get a sense of some of Newt’s mild quirks, but not so much about who he is — all his personality traits are tied to his career (he is caring, he likes animals…..he likes caring for animals). It definitely could have been worse, with Redmayne utterly over-the-top and irritating, but most of the time he’s almost a non-presence, his head too in the clouds to be engaged in the movie and the reactions to his character therefore far more effective than him himself. The one time he is given a major ‘crazy’ moment, when he has to do an impression of a shark-rhino-type-thing, is utterly embarrassing for everyone involved.
Luckily, the supporting cast is mostly strong enough to make up for it. Dan Fogler plays Jacob Kowalski, a normal guy who gets caught up in Newt’s mess after they accidentally switch cases, and he’s by far the highlight — a loveable, fun character with understandable wants and desires who makes for a great audience surrogate. I found myself frequently wondering why more scenes weren’t presented from his point of view instead of Newt’s, especially when he’s learning about the wizarding world or going inside Newt’s animal sanctuary suitcase for the first time. This latter scene was especially problematic for me — it does have some of the film’s strongest moments, but I couldn’t help but feeling like by largely focusing on a distracted Newt, there was a missed opportunity for some truly breathtaking shots.
Aside from Fogler, the other two members of the show’s makeshift Scooby Gang are Katherine Waterston as Tina Goldstein, a former American wizard ministry detective trying to get back in their good graces, and her sister Queenie, a free-spirited psychic played by Alison Sudol. Waterston creates an endearing character out of Tina’s need to prove herself and frustration with Newt, while Queenie is a classic Harry Potter type — completely eccentric yet resourceful and kind — played to perfection by Sudol. The movie does kick up a little when the four of them are together, and it’s a bummer to know most of them likely won’t make it into future movies. The only weak point is the insertion of utterly forced love stories between the pairs, especially between Newt and Tina, which only seems to happen because they’re near each other and isn’t natural in the slightest. Rounding out the main supports is Colin Farrell as essentially the head wizard detective, and while he’s not bad his performance and costuming never quite seems to fit into the world — it’s almost like he thought he was in Marvel’s Daredevil show.
The script, the first by Potter creator J. K. Rowling, is pretty solid, especially for a first-timer. The story beats are largely predictable, but she writes twists and reveals well — they were always one or two degrees off from my expectations. She also introduces some interesting new concepts, such as the Second Salemers, a group of humans who trade in anti-magic sentiment but are largely ridiculed by an unaware public. The abuse and quashing of one of the Salemer children due to magical abilities leads to the best original idea in the movie: the Obscurus. Although visually presented as an incredibly dull dark cloud, the idea behind it is emblematic of Rowling’s best anti-prejudice themes, representing how a suppression of one’s natural state can lead to resentment and violent lashing out. The villain is also more interesting than Potter’s Voldemort, and is actually allowed to have a modicum of a point with his logic that hiding the wizarding world from humans only serves to benefit humans. Unfortunately, the climax relies far too much on some really irritating cliches, such as “compassionate woman talks struggling monster down”, and “deus ex machina gets rid of all the chaos”. And it really is disappointing that Newt gets less development than essentially every supporting character — the one major bit of development we get from him isn’t even mentioned by him, but is told to him (and therefore us) by psychic Queenie, which feels rather cheap.
On paper and in the performances this is a very enjoyable romp with a dark undertone that feels mostly well-earned, in a period much stricter than the one we see in previous movies. The production design is solid all-round, especially in the design of the goddamn adorable beasts and ignoring the black cloud Obscurus, while there are a few individual set-pieces which I really enjoyed. The American ministry’s version of the death penalty is depicted, and it’s incredibly creepy and bizarre — the sudden tonal shift to it is jarring, but it’s perhaps the most effective scene in the movie. I also liked the short scene set in a wizard speakeasy, with amusing, classic Rowling touches like a goblin lounge singer and shots of “Gigglewater”. Alas, the filmmaking as a whole is not up to the same standard. As mentioned earlier, most of the time the visuals and cinematography are too uninventive, with absolutely no sense of wonder. The Harry Potter films were mostly very good at capturing the magical element and making it feel truly enchanting, but in this one it largely feels mundane. The ‘biggest’ and most elaborate shots are literally in a fixin-it-up montage at the end. The tone of the movie just feels too subdued and workmanlike, as if Yates has grown tired of the universe. It’s never bad, aside from one action scene involving an insect and a teapot which was confusing to follow, but I barely ever got the sense that the man guiding the movie was actively interested in the material.
I had fun with Fantastic Beasts, but it didn’t leave me with any anticipation for the rest of the series. It has a good script, with plenty of cute individual moments, and an entertaining cast of supporting players, but the lead is too much of a black hole, and the filmmaking is proficient but has almost no passion. It’s the best extended universe addition to come from this series so far, but hasn’t convinced me that JOHNNY DEPP: WIZARD HITLER is a saga anyone but the Warner Bros executives needs. Middling for the Potter franchise, but one of Yates’ lesser efforts for sure.
