Well… many years after the magic-filled Harry Potter adaptations left the movie theaters, Warner Brothers have teamed with JK Rowling to tell another story from this mystical world which interacts with the regular human world. We are introduced to this world with the animated newspapers telling us of various happenings in the wizarding world and a brief depiction of the president (Carmen Ejogo) who remains committed to keeping the magical world a secret. Many of the headlines concern a mysterious yet menacing wizard named Grindelwald as well as active anti-witchcraft sentiment. There is also mention of an odd menace running around New York in the mid-1920s.
We switch to the remains of buildings in NY where wizarding investigator Mr. Graves (Colin Farrell) makes his way through the police and others reporting darkness and intense winds, with a pair of glowing eyes at the center. Even more destruction happens, leading Graves to speculate the nature of just what is loose in the city.
As this happens, a seemingly shy Brit named Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) disembarks his passenger liner and heads into NYC with his already interesting suitcase. Through a series of mishaps, he wanders into a nearby bank crosses paths with a normal guy named Jacob (Dan Folger) who has come to get a loan for his bakery. More misadventures place the pair into crosshairs of investigator Porpetina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston) who herself has fallen out of favor with the President due to a prior case.
Even more characters and crazy factors result in Scamander, Jacob, Goldstein and her roommate Queenie (Alison Sudol) doing various things to rescue NYC from the many magical issues the city faces, from retrieving several mystical creatures running amok to dealing with a harrowing monster terrorizing the citizens. There’s a lot to take in here, and that’s the movie’s greatest strength and failing.
We are being re-introduced to a familiar world here based on J.K. Rowling’s writings. It is quite vast and complex. The rich history we get to witness can be entertaining, but there’s so much that’s been crammed into a single feature that’s over 2 hours that it can be a chore to process. As a result, the pacing feels a bit off and scenes that should have better impact tend not to at times. There’re periods when we’re rushing from one event to the next when a bit less would’ve been more beneficial to the screenplay. Some scenes could’ve been best to let the viewer breathe and savor for effect. I’m not certain whether director David Yates (who directed other Harry Potter movies) or Rowling herself is the cause but it’s an issue here.
As to these new characters, it’s fun to watch Scamander and Jacob’s friendship develop through their exploits while we learn about who they are. Scamander seems like an ersatz rendition of the 11th Doctor Who portrayed by Matt Smith (complete with his own TARDIS of sorts come to think it. He cares about things around him, but most for animals especially, showing himself as a mystical zoologist of sorts with maybe a bit of Pokemon’s Ash Ketchum thrown in. Something clearly happened to him in the past, but he fights through it to do what’s right. Jacob is the average joe of the pair and gets to have some fun moments while helping out Scamander and developing his own good traits in the process. Portina and Queenie prove to be very capable investigators and magic users in their own right and should prove interesting in future films.
Like I said the screenplay is a bit much to take in. I’d enjoyed all the previous Harry Potter films to date (except the second one. Still can’t sit through it for some reason.), but haven’t read any of the books yet (for which, several of my female friends will likely smack me on the head.) So as a casual fan in some respects (or would that be half muggle? Hmm.) I was able to follow the events of the movie ok. I did have a lovely Potter fan to explain the subtleties of everything going on (Thank you, Rachel.) and it helped me to enjoy the movie a little more and be interested in future installments. I did like the art direction and effects, which have often been highlights of these films. But these helped to make the movie good instead of great, for which less would’ve been more. The movie is still enjoyable enough though leading to the holiday season, though it will get dark and harrowing in the later half. Parents may want to consider this a bit with respect to the youngest viewers.
Grade: B / B-