3.5 whimsical-magical-returns-to-the-Wizarding-World out of 4
Whimsical, brisk, and genuinely charming, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the kind of film that is only truly possible when individual artistic teams place enough trust in one another to not overcompensate for any perceived flaws or inadequacies. Directed by David Yates—responsible for the final four Harry Potter films—and written by Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling, Fantastic Beasts is light-hearted, crisp, agile, and relatively unburdened by the Wizarding World’s larger universe.
Under no circumstance is this film anything but a prequel to the stories of Hogwarts, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but the manner in which it focuses on a quartet of new, older characters is indicative of the kind of attention to detail that few prequels are able to muster. There are brief references to places like Hogwarts and people like Albus Dumbledore, but this is a film that is accessible to both fans and newcomers alike.
Set in New York City in 1926, Fantastic Beasts tells the story of Newt Scamander—a zoologist who studies magical creatures—as he arrives carrying a suitcase full of, well, quite fantastical beasts.Through a series of mishaps, Scamander’s case is accidentally opened, unleashing a veritable menagerie of creatures both cute and catastrophic—adorable and absolutely terrifying—upon a post-World War I city plagued by rising tensions between magical and non-magical people.
Like all fantasy literature, Rowling’s stories about the Boy Who Lived were always more defined by the allusions, homages, references, and reverence paid to English fantasy literature, and Fantastic Beasts continues this trend.
In 1926, America was far less a welcoming place than certain history books would suggest, and while the post-war period brought on one of the largest economic booms in history, inequality continued to rage beneath the surface.
In Fantastic Beasts, Rowling constructs a portrait of an America divided among lines of magical inequality; the anger and persecution launched against potential members of the magical community are clear references to the acrimony held against people of colour, members of the LGBTQ+ community, individuals believed to be communist sympathizers, and pretty much every other group that the angry American horde has grown to fear over the years.
Suffice it to say, Fantastic Beasts is certainly a “thrill-ride,” but it’s also a film that clearly attempts to tackle the numerous problems of oppression in the modern day.In one scene, a portrait of a strong-jawed white man glowers at an audience filled with members of the wealthy New York upper class. The portrait’s tagline, “America’s future,” serves as a haunting reminder of the years to come.
Yet, Fantastic Beasts is, in every conceivable way, one of the most whimsical films in recent memory. Further, the shifts between scenes of hope and scenes of despair are not as jarring as one might expect. This film is, after all, written by the same person who inserted wizard Hitler into a story about a boy who gets to go to magic school, and succeeded almost every step of the way.
Much of the film’s whimsy comes from its script, but Yates, composer James Newton Howard, and cinematographer Philippe Rousselot are all equally responsible for tone and mood. Newton Howard’s score is full of staccato blips that build anticipation and excitement. The film’s main theme—and, as a result, its musical leitmotif—plays on the audience’s sense of wonder and amazement. When we finally get to see the full contents of Scamander’s suitcase, the score crescendos into a scene full of awe and spectacle.Meanwhile, Rousselot’s colour palette conveys the film’s mood through warm oranges, soft blues, and gentle yellows. When it’s time for things to get serious, the colours wash out to an almost asphalt-tinted grey.
I have said little of Eddie Redmayne’s lead performance as the film’s central character. Newt Scamander is a shy, reserved fellow—wary of humanity, and far more concerned about his creatures than anything else. In short, he’s a true zoologist through and through. Watch how Redmayne conveys Scamander’s sense of hostility and fear towards other humans. When he first meets a person, he subtly shifts his eyes downward, trying as much as possible to shrink into himself and avoid their gaze. His body language faces inward, and he avoids confrontation. Watch how he acts around an animal. The man takes on a parental warmth, widening his eyes, his stance, and smiling like a giddy child.
I previously commended Redmayne for his physical performative style in my review of The Theory of Everything. I stand by my belief that Redmayne is one of the finest actors of our generation, and Fantastic Beasts is yet another example of his talent and dedication to the craft.
Photo courtesy of Warner Brothers.