MICHAEL LOMAX: ‘Beasts’ expands world of Harry Potter
FILM REVIEW: Film has author J.K. Rowling’s touch all over it
By Michael Lomax
Most forms of art are intended to give people an alternative to the real world, and for good reason. Life is tough, and sometimes the best thing we can do to help ourselves move forward is to take an hour or two to clear our minds with shameless entertainment.
That is exactly what “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” is, and I’ve got no problem with that.
Set 70 years before the events of “Harry Potter,” “Fantastic Beasts” follows future educator and textbook writer Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) as he arrives in America as part of an ongoing expedition to catalogue and protect endangered magical creatures.
But when a No-Maj (the American equivalent of a muggle) named Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler) accidentally sets loose Newt’s briefcase of exotic animals, Newt must team up with disgraced ex-Auror Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston) to retrieve the creatures before their entire magical society is revealed.
A lot of the reason author (and screenwriter) J.K. Rowling’s books were successful is that, despite their magical premise, the stories were grounded in a world we could totally get behind and understand — a world that really wasn’t that much different from our own. But we still only ever got the British perspective.
Taking place in the midst of Roaring ’20s America, “Fantastic Beasts” presents a unique opportunity for both Rowling and her fans to experience something new, and, staying true to form, Rowling runs with it.
The film really is therefore mostly fan service from start to finish, and there is little doubt that the movie was greenlit for anything other than money. But as I’ve said many times before, if the movie is good, then there’s nothing wrong with wanting to make a little green.
And “Fantastic Beasts” is nothing if not lovely.
Of course that doesn’t make the movie perfect by any means. Clocking in at just under two-and-a-half hours, the film can drag at times, and considering just how much information Rowling tries to cram into this film, you’re probably going to forget plenty of details.
And especially once you move into the final 15-20 minutes or so, things do start to go off the rails a bit.
But at the end of the day if you accept “Fantastic Beasts” for what it is — namely a work of imaginative, magical fiction by one of the most creative writers of the last 100 years — none of the above detractions will affect you.
So grab your wands and saddle up. Apparently, “Fantastic Beasts” is the start of a brand new “Harry Potter” franchise, and I couldn’t be more excited.
Michael Lomax is a writer-filmmaker currently at work on a film script to be set and shot in Albany.
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