Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - Another Adaptation of J.K. Rowling's Novel

This movie has got a lot of buzz for quite some time and I was looking forward to see it as soon as it premiered. However, due to some practical reasons, my wife and I only managed to see it yesterday. We were lucky enough that we got the vouchers from Cinemaxx Theater for winning the quiz they held earlier and hence we were able to watch it for free. Yeaaaay, thanks Cinemaxx. Since the movie got Dolby Atmos option, for sure we choose the studio that was playing it with this sound system. Anyway, enough of that, let's get on to the movie.

Brief Story Line

This movie was happening during the year 1920s in New York city (so it's way before the Harry Potter times and also in different country). Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne - The Theory of Everything, The Danish Girl etc), a wizard from England arrived at New York harbor bringing a suitcase full of various beasts which he captured previously. When he was walking around, he encountered Mrs. Barebone (Samantha Morton - The Messenger, John Carter etc) who was giving speech in front of a bank about the danger of witches living around them. Newt then realized that one of his creature, a niffler escaped from his suitcase and was stealing gold coins etc (as it was attracted with shiny objects). 

Trying to capture the niffler, he went inside the bank and met with Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler - Take Me Home Tonight, Barely Lethal - etc) who was trying to get bank loan for opening his own bakery. Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterstone - Steve Jobs etc) was suspicious of Newt's behavior and started to follow him around. So many things happening at the same time when Newt trying to recapture the cute niffler and he also accidentally involved Jacob who was actually a normal person without the knowledge of magic at all.

Needless to say, this experience led Tina to apprehend Newt as apparently she used to be an Auror a division of MACUSA (Magical Congress of the USA) whose mission was to capture dark wizard. She felt that Newt brought danger to the wizards society as they should not be known by the No-Maj (normal people who did not have knowledge of magic or muggle in Harry Potter movies term). Jacob also escaped from Newt before Newt got the chance to obliviate him (make his memory of magic gone).

Story soon became complicated as the MACUSA were having to deal with the existence of a beast / wizard running havoc in New York where they had to hide the wizard existence for their safety. The president of Macusa named Picquery (Carmen Ejogo - Alex Cross, The Purge: Anarchy etc) had instructed Graves (Colin Farrell - Phone Booth, Alexander etc) who was a very high ranked Auror to identify and capture this dangerous beast/wizard. Tina who was instructed not to be involved in the Auror matters anymore had no choice but to bring Newt and also Jacob to her house, where she lived with her sister Queenie (Alison Sudol) who was a mind reader. Some hilarious moments occurred during the encounter between these 4 people.

Meanwhile, in the No-Maj world itself, a powerful newspaper mogul Henry Shaw Sr. (Jon Voight - Mission: Impossible, Pearl Harbor, and many more) was informed by his son who seemed to believed Mrs. Barebone's claims about wizard. However, he and especially his eldest son Henry Shaw Jr. who was a senator did not believe them at all. He even insulted Mrs. Barebone's son Credence (Ezra Miller - Train Wreck and the future Flash in DCEU).

The movie would slowly reveal the story behind Newt's real intention of coming to New York. What was the thing that created the havoc in New York? Could MACUSA be able to find out? What would happen to Newt and his creatures? So many things would be unfolded if you continue to watch the movie.

End of Brief Story Line

I had never read any Harry Potter books and this prequel/spin-off movie was no exception. My only knowledge was that the story was told prior to the Harry Potter timeline. But then again, I enjoyed the whole 8 movies of them, so why would not I enjoy this movie? And apparently it's true. My wife and I totally enjoyed the movie. It was one of the best 2 hours + experience in a movie that I had. The story was excellent, the special effects, the make up effects, the sound effects (Dolby Atmos created more fun) and all effects in the movie were spectacular. The beasts/creatures here were truly fantastic. and real lifelike. Two thumbs up on the CGI for those. I am still very much amazed of how J.K. Rowling could come up with so vast variety of imagination of the creatures. 

I absolutely love the way the story was told, the pace was just perfect. Not to slow (enough time for the introduction of the characters) and not too fast either that we would feel the story hopping around much. For those who never read the book like me and my wife, we can really understand the story. David Yates who directed Harry Potter 5-8 and 2016 version The Legend of Tarzan did a wonderful job on making this possible. Oh there were also some surprising twists in the end that I did not see coming, which was kind of cool as I thought the movie would be plainly focusing on the creatures. 

In addition to the above plus points, the movie was a little bit dark compared to Harry Potter earlier movies. Being a movie adapted from the novel written by the same author in the same world as well, we could not help comparing the movies. I myself feel that my wife and I were enjoying this more than the Harry Potter series. Perhaps because the main characters here were adult and the main plot was also a bit heavier. I also love the characters but the one I like the most would certainly be Jacob Kowalski, as almost all the fun things happening in the movie actually revolved around him. Even Colin Farrel's performance also good in here. He used to have so much potential when he emerged as an action star in the early 2000, but then somehow lost his touch. There were also some well known actors playing a bit part role in this movie. Some you may be able to identify, but some perhaps only after you look closely then you will know.

Anyway I think my view about this being better than Harry Potter series is a subjective opinion as I believe some audience would prefer the other way around. For me though, I could not wait for the next series to be produced which I understand would be consisting of 5 series altogether. 

So if you have not watched this movie, what are you waiting for? Go to the theater nearest you and buy the tickets and watch it. If you are Indonesian, no need to worry as it is currently playing in all 3 cinema chains. 

Happy watching!

Mike's movie moments rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars