Thrilling, funny and a little bit sexy: Fantastic Beasts is just that
MoS film critic Matthew Bond gives J.K. Rowling’s new movie five stars
FOR five long years, Harry Potter fans have eagerly anticipated the latest spin-off to J.K. Rowling’s blockbuster series, and I am delighted to report it has been worth every second of the wait.
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, which I caught at its New York premiere on Thursday, is quite wonderful. It’s every bit as good as Potter and quite possibly even better. I absolutely loved it.
Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) is a magizoologist who travels the world with a battered suitcase which contains all the endangered magical animals that he has collected, such as a Niffler, a Bowtruckle and a vast pachyderm called an Erumpent.
But this is so much more than a film about silly-sounding animals. As Newt arrives in New York, he finds himself in desperate need of help. For his arrival has coincided with a period of tension between the Magic Congress of the USA (Macusa) and what they call ‘nonmajs’ but we know as muggles.
When some of his charges escape and cause chaos, the division widens dangerously. But is it all Newt’s fault or are there darker forces afoot, such as the wizard Gindlewald (Johnny Depp)? Thank heavens, there’s a nice girl from Macusa, Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston), to help.
This is the first in a five-film series but sets such a high standard. Veteran Potter director David Yates paces things perfectly and Rowling’s story will delight fans.
It’s thrilling, funny and a little bit sexy too. I’m looking forward to part two already.
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them (Cert 12A) opens across the UK on November 18.