Screenplay Written by J.K. Rowling
Directed by David Yates
**1/2 (two and a half stars)
RATED PG 13
Dear readers, it is of no secret to any of you who happen to have followed any of my reviews over the years as to how much I love the writing of author J.K. Rowling. In fact, if you may recall, when her iconic Harry Potter book series was first being discussed as being adapted for the silver screen, I was vehemently opposed to such an undertaking precisely because of how brilliant and beautiful Rowling's writing actually is, as it contains a literary, visual and emotional heft that made each and every page burst into vibrant life, so much so that the thought of any potential motion pictures felt to me would pale in comparison.
I housed those feelings over 16 years ago and to my astonishment, the "Harry Potter" film series not only honored Rowling's original vision and source material wondrously, they eventually became strong enough films that could exist as works of art in their own right. Since that time, J.K. Rowling the writer has only continued to amaze me through her increasingly rich novels, the stunning, devastating political satire/tragedy The Casual Vacancy and her now on-going dark detective series all written under Rowling's pseudonym of Robert Galbraith.
Now, we arrive with "Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them," J.K. Rowling's full fledged cinematic return, alongside her reunion with Director David Yates, to the wizarding world of Harry Potter, albeit with the delightfully risky premise of existing as a prequel and featuring none of the characters that we have come to know and adore. And yes, it is also the first of five planned installments to boot. By this point, Rowling has earned more than enough good will from me that I would indeed follow her pursuits no matter where they should take her and frankly, I felt that if she did return to wizards, witches and magic, this specific approach as executed by this new project would be a fine way to tackle the subject matter and not make the proceedings feel as an explicit money grab.
While I do standby those sentiments and my overall faith in Rowling has not been undone, "Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them" is unfortunately not quite of the same league as all that has preceded it. No, this is not a bad film in the least, and truth be told, I wouldn't even really call it that much of a disappointment. It was more of a near miss. A film and experience where the intent for greatness is all over the screen but for whatever reasons, all of the parts just did not click as triumphantly as they had in the past. My feelings are not due to some allegiance to the previous eight films, all of which I loved to varying degrees. It is just looking at what was presented to me this time around and finding myself loving some of it, being underwhelmed by bits and pieces and cumulatively feeling that the brass ring, this time was just out of reach.
"Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them" takes place in 1926 New York City and stars Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander, expelled from Hogwarts, full fledged wizard, world travelling magizooogist as well as future author of the very textbook Harry Potter and his classmates would one day read and study.
Newt's globe trotting journey lands him in New York complete with magical suitcase as he is in pursuit of yet another mystical creature. But when the mischievous, shiny coin grabbing Nifler escapes from Newt's suitcase, the pursuit lands him within an adventure filled with whimsy and a creeping darkness as he joins forces with Porpetina "Tina" Goldstein (Katherine Waterson), a disgraced former Auror, Queenie Goldstein (Alison Sudol), Tina's mind reading sister and finally, the No-Maj (i.e. non magical American civilian) Jacob Kowalski (a terrific Dan Folger), a factory worker who houses dreams of becoming a baker.
Meanwhile, darkness encroaches upon the city via strange, and increasingly violent disturbances of unknown origin but feared within the hidden wizarding community, most notably the Magical Congress of the United States as led by President Seraphina Picquery (Carmen Ejogo) and the Director of Magical Security Percival Graves (Colin Farrell), to be the handiwork of the evil wizard Gellert Grindelwald.
Yet, Percival Graves is duplicitous as he covertly aligns himself with young Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller), an orphan held under the physically and psychologically abusive influence of Mary Lou Barebone (Samantha Morton), the leader of "The Second Salemers," an extremist organization who hunts and kills wizards and witches. Percival hopes that Credence will assist him is tracking down the elusive host of an Obscurus, a destructive force manifested by magical children who have been forced to conceal the truth of themselves from society but is unleashed due to the stress and anger of hiding oneself.
When Newt's misadventures with his accidentally freed creatures lands him afoul of the Magical Congress, especially Graves who fears Newt is somehow aligned with Grindelwald, the secrecy of the magical world is threatened unless the source of the rising malevolence can be discovered.
As you are able to gather, "Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them" has no shortage of characters, detail, or ideas. The film is a veritable treasure trove of dazzling visuals, strong performances, and a rich conceptual tapestry which features tender romances, slapstick comedy, an arsenal of fanciful creations filtered through a nice animal rights activism and most importantly, a surprisingly grim yet powerfully empathetic look into themes of repression, intolerance, bigotry and the consequences of living within societies (both non-magical and wizarding) where fear runs rampant, certainly more timely than ever considering the current political climate in our increasingly dark real world.
Director David Yates, who helmed the final four and increasingly wrenching and beautiful installments of the "Harry Potter" film series, returns to J.K. Rowling's wizarding world with such confidence that it seems as if it has really only been a scant amount of passed time since "Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2" (2011) rather than five years. Yates handles every luxuriously filled frame with reverence, playfulness and the right amounts of drama and darkness, always keeping the main focus of character and story at the forefront rather than the special effects which are as seamless as ever (the film's bittersweet final scenes are absolutely lovely). I was thrilled to learn that he would be taking the reins for this series (presumably, all five films) and I remain convinced that Rowling's vision is in the best of cinematic hands.
And yet, when all was said and done, and even despite my praises, "Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them" never really adds up to very much at all.
Don't get me wrong, dear readers, there is much to admire about the film and one could not remotely accuse J.K. Rowling of simply going back to the well and lazily creating some new product in the most uninspired fashion. Quite the contrary, "Fantastic Beasts And Whee To Find Them," is positively overflowing with ideas...perhaps too many ideas. Or at least, so many ideas that sadly do not coalesce comfortably into a sumptuous whole.
Returning to the plot description I detailed above, Rowling has more than delivered the plot...but somehow, the film seemed to be lacking a bit of a story. Honestly, in a nutshell, precisely what is this film even about? There is a tremendous amount of activity but for what purpose and to what end? Yes, this is the beginning of a serialized five part saga and we can't know all there is to know right away. I more than understand that. But, it seems that what works within the framework of writing a novel does not work quite the same way when devising a screenplay.
As I have always expressed to you, books are books and movies are movies. In a novel, Chapter One has no need to be fully revealing or satisfying because the reader can just turn a page and dive deeply into Chapter Two. But with a film series such as this one, with the second installment not arriving until one to three years from now, an opening installment this meandering and even somewhat shapeless just does not suffice as it still needs to function as a complete experience all on its own and still, even by film's end, I did have to question to myself, just what was all of that even about?
"Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them" is filled to the brim with greatness but it is in search of the connective tissue that would make all of the elements snap and pop vibrantly into place. Instead, it is a film that tends to feel padded from time to time, especially when dealing with sequences pertaining to Newt Scamander and his pursuit of his beloved escaped creatures, sequences that did elicit some yawns from this viewer as the beasts themselves, aside from the charming platypus styled Nifler, never seemed to be that fully defined and certainly lacked the necessary character to make our imaginations marvel.
I think of a film like Chris Sanders and Dean DeBois' "How To Train Your Dragon" (2010) for instance, a film also based upon a book series, where the sheer variety of dragons presented were all so clearly and lovingly designed and presented that we knew and understood which characteristics and powers were attributed to each dragon species, therefore adorning all of them with rich characterizations that enhanced the overall proceedings and the ultimate story overall. Yet, for this film, and one that is partially entitled "Fantastic Beasts," we really know very little about what these creatures are, what they do and the hows and whys Newt Scamander has become such an impassioned caretaker for this magical animal kingdom. Yes, some of that may be revealed over the next four films but even so, for every beautiful sequence (like the one where Jacob first enters Newt's suitcase to find worlds upon worlds of magical beings protected deeply inside) there are other sequences that just drag and feel like place holders before returning to the main action (most specifically, the sequence where Newt and Jacob attempt to coax a rhino-like creature back into the suitcase).
Whatever fantastical qualities the beasts were supposed to possess, they were somehow lost upon me as I watched, a quality I never felt within the entirety of the "Harry Potter" book and film series regarding the creatures, tools, weapons, and environment. Again, I give tremendous credit to Rowling for being able to not only devise a richly detailed history to a fully fictional world, but to its inhabitants as well. But, it didn't take this time around. Perhaps it was the CGI. Maybe something more handmade in the special effects would have served the beasts better, as well as a greater attention within Rowling's screenplay. But whatever the means, the intended connection just never quite matched up for me.
Similar feelings also held more than true for Newt Scamander himself, or rather Eddie Redmayne's performance. Now, as with all of the previous "Harry Potter" features directed by David Yates, the performances from the entire casts were truly resplendent. With "Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them," that high standard holds solid...although Redmayne felt to be more than a little awkward and also had a tendency to mumble his dialogue, making it difficult to understand precisely what he was saying from time to time and to a near annoying effect.
Yes, the character of Newt Scamander is shy, introverted and awkward, a figure who clearly relates better and shows greater comfort with animals as opposed to human beings. Yes, this is an emerging character, therefore a man of mystery, someone who will be fully revealed over the following four films. And while Redmayne has some good moments giving us peeks into his mysterious backstory, including the still present wounds inflicted by his lost love, as well as his entire Doctor Dolittle by way of Ghostbusters persona and mission. Basically, the film felt as if he was not yet fully comfortable within the role, therefore we are witness to him getting his feet wet in this character and universe, just as Yates was obviously finding his way helming "Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix" (2007), and how it seems Rowling herself may have been doing with this, her debut screenplay.
But, even with its flaws, "Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them" is not remotely a failure. Just a film that seemed to stumble in ways that surprised me considering the creative source. As previously stated, this is not a bad film by any means and besides, I could steer you away from it even if I wanted to...and I don't. Truth be told, I would even see it again some time down the road as the adventure and the allegory invites revisiting. All of the ingredients exist and here's hoping for a better, more focused entry once the second installment arrives.
I haven't lost faith in J.K. Rowling and I am certain that she will enchant me all over again before I even know it. But this time her book of spells perhaps needs a bit of a revision.
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