Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them

Whilst waiting in the foyer of Cinema City I noticed a case of maps on the counter; each map was a treasure hunt for hidden beasts around the venue. As I perused the map I felt a little spark of excitement inside me. When ordering drinks at the bar I saw that they were serving magical potion themed cocktails, a nice little touch, and again I felt that excitement. You see, ever since the release of the book Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in 1999, I've been a day one Potter fan. Every book, every film, every everything, I'm there front and centre on opening day. And although I'm here for the first night of Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, it has kind of snuck up on me. I haven't been whipped into a frenzy by advertising and I haven't spent weeks wondering how will they realise the book on screen or which parts will they leave out due to time constraints. As I sat in my seat, map in my pocket, drink in my hand, it suddenly struck me that because it's not directly adapted from a novel this is the first film set in the "Potter" universe where I don't know what is going to happen....and I got very excited.

The year is 1926. Magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) makes a brief stopover in New York when returning from a quest to find and document extraordinary creatures from around the world. When some of his creatures escape, he enlists the help of a no-maj (American for muggle) baker named Jacob (Dan Fogler) and local Auror Tina (Katherine Waterston) to round up the beasts before they cause too much havoc and expose the hidden magical community to the wider non magical world.

David Yates cements his place as the go to director for the films set in this universe and continues to meld the physical and the magical into a coherent whole, full of nice little details and in jokes for the fans but still making it accessible for newcomers (as if there's anyone watching this that hasn't heard of Harry Potter). J K Rowling's screenplay is undeniably her work, fitting in with the rules of the world perfectly, just transposing it to a more grown up setting. A few of the creatures used in the film didn't make an appearance in the original Fantastic Beasts textbook and seemed to have been created as plot devices just to help with holes in the story. Rowling is well within her rights to do this as the creator of the world, but I would have been more impressed if she had worked out a story based on creatures she created fifteen years ago.

I was originally sceptical of Eddie Redmayne's ability to carry a film of this size, but I needn't have worried. Newt is a delightfully endearing character, with a physical performance pitched somewhere between silent era stars such as Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, and Matt Smith's Doctor. Having spent so much time in the field with his research, he is wonderfully awkward in the company of others, fascinated by them but rarely able to meet their gaze, yet he comes to life and has an overwhelming confidence when dealing with the beasts themselves. With Newt being so socially inept, it often falls to the supporting cast to hold the film together, Dan Fogler is great as Jacob, the wide eyed no-maj in a magical world, and relative newcomer Alison Sudol gives a beautifully delicate performance as Tina's sister Queenie.

There has to be some darkness to all this light though, and 1920's New York is a difficult time and place for wizards. Tensions are running high between the magical and non magical worlds and this is where the film is at its best. A task force of Aurors led by the brilliantly brooding Colin Farrell are charged with containing an evil presence that is threatening the city. Then there's the Second Salemers, a fanatical group of muggles trying to expose the wizards as the threat that they perceive them to be. Samantha Morton is menacing as the fearmongering matriarch Mary Lou, but it's Ezra Miller's Credence that threatens to steal the show; perfectly cast, he has a barely concealed rage simmering just below the surface similar to the intensity he showed in 2011's adaptation of We Need To Talk About Kevin.

Supposedly this is the first in a five film series and it's difficult to see where the story can go after this, but that's kind of the point and I'm glad I don't know. If the subsequent films are as much fun as this, I'll be more than happy to go along for the ride. Next time I'm going to be excited a lot earlier than I was this time round.