Not back to Hogwarts, but still back home

Rating: 8/10 (14 December 2016)

Harry Potter must have had this feelings, every time a new school year started and he was allowed to go back home, back to Hogwarts:
excited, full of expectation, happy and comfortable to come back home
And this is exactly the feeling we, and i am sure that i am writing in the name of all HP fans, get, when "fantastic beats and where to find them" starts with the so well-known music. Even if the setting isn't Hogwarts this time, but New York, it is great to be "back home" in the magical world of J.K. Rowling.
The main character is a young man named Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne). He has just completed a global excursion to find and document a great number of magical creatures and comes to NY for a brief stopover in 1926. There he meets the demoted Auror Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston), her sister Queenie (Alison Sudol) and the NO-MAY (American name for muggle) Jacob Kowalski(Dan Fogler). More by accident than on purpose the four of them experience a enthralling adventure.

outstanding camera work and special effects:

The camera work of Yates, who also filmed the last 4 HP, is compelling! The scenes and perspectives are switching right in time and it is worth to watch the film in 3D, because there are many special effects. Especially due to the "monsters" the animation is great and it makes so much fun to watch them, as if they were real living beings.

worth seeing actors

Not only the beasts, but also the actors are doing a bombastic job (although I personally think, that the animals are sometimes steeling their show :) ). They are all nominated actors and so they all succeed to make their characters special. In my opinion Eddie Redmayne is the perfect cast for Newt Scamander: from the outset sympathical, but also a little mysterious, what is important because of the fact that he is hiding something (beasts) But also the others of "the team" are catching the sympathy of the audience after some minutes. And of course I have to mention the "bad" characters as well, as they are also all played by unique actors, who couldn't have done a better job (Colin Farrell, Ezra Miller, Jonny Depp...)

creative,charming (, sometimes slender) plot

There are two story lines. One deals with the problem, that some of Newt's creatures are lost and his mission to find them again. I loved it, because of the "monsters", which are so adorable and funny. The other one is gloomily, since a unknown force destroys big parts of NY, kills people and is searched by a bad wizard, who wants to use it for his cruel plans. I must validate, that it has some gabs, but in my opinion this doesn't matter that much as they are balanced by J.K. Rowlings fantasy, which still amazes me. And at least, particularly the hints towards the world of Harry Potter (Dumbledore, Hogwarts, Nifflers...) make me smirk again and again.
Summarized I would recommend this movie in any case! Even if the story-line isn't as straight as in HP, it is great to be back in J.K. Rowlings magical world with so many great new characters and monsters. I think she made absolutely the right thing with creating a completely new story in the old, native world... And as this is just the kick-off, I am looking forward to the next four movies.