What a wonderful movie - the magic is alive!

Rating: Null/10 (26 December 2016)

I am the first to admit that I was sceptical about the movie Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. How could you make a movie about the world of Harry Potter without Harry Potter?
I needn't have been worried. Clearly, J.K. Rowling knows what she is doing. In a departure from the conventional first writing the story in form of a novel, she skipped a step and went on straight to writing the screenplay instead. With an incredible movie as a result.
The story is about Newt Scamander, played by Eddie Redmayne. Newt is a British wizard who comes to New York in the 1920s. In his possession he has a suitcase filled with magical creatures. He has collected those fantastic beasts all over the world and stopped over in America to release the Thunderbird into the wild to be with other creatures of its kind. After that he is on his way back home to write a book about the fantastic beasts and where to find them. Or so he thought.
A chance encounter with 'no-maj' Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler) leads to a mix up of their suitcases and ultimately results in some of the creatures getting out. Newt has lost one little critter already. This one is obsessed with anything shiny and sparkly. And he found all the shiny coins in the local bank very much to his liking. Newt follows him into the bank in an effort to catch him. Jacob is also at the bank because he applied for a loan. He works in a factory and feels his life slowly being sucked out of him. Instead he wants to open a bakery and brings samples of pastries made with his grandmothers recipes. He doesn't get the loan because he has nothing to give as security. Instead he meets Newt and a strange new chapter in his life starts.
New York at the time is rife with angst about the possible existence of wizardry and witchcraft amongst the general no-maj population. This is stirred considerably by radical individuals such as Mary Lou Barebone. She spends her time standing at street corners and handing out pamphlets. She also 'adopted' several children, most of them she treats rather poorly.
Newt is picked up and arrested by Porpentina Goldstein, a fellow witch who works at the Magical Congress of the USA. She has observed him since he came to the city and feels that his behaviour threatens to expose their existence. She tries to bring Newt in front of the presidential council where she gets blocked due to her low status and rank within the ministry.
Tina opens the suitcase and finds the pastry baked by the unfortunate Jacob, whom Newt had met earlier. They realise that the suitcases were swapped and head out to find him. Eventually they track him down in his flat with a bite mark on his neck and the mild side effects of the bite.
She takes the two men to her apartment, where they meet her sister Queenie Goldstein. Queenie is a fellow witch with the ability to read people's minds. She and Jacob hit it off immediately in a really sweet and innocent old fashioned style.
Later that night Newt and Jacob sneak out to find some of the escapes beasts that are threatening to cause mayhem all over the city.
Trouble brews in form of Percival Graves (Colin Farrell), a powerful wizard and the Director of Security at MACUSA. He appears to have an agenda of his own, which is not quite clear as of yet. But he does meet Credence, a teenage boy and one of Mary Lou's adopted children in some back alleys to task him with finding a child witch who supposedly possesses unimaginable powers.
The events take the group of new friends all across New York in an effort to catch the escaped creatures and to return them to the magical world Newt has created in his suitcase for them,
The story ends in an epic show down wizard style, with grown men waving their wands like it's no ones business. There are sparks flying and buildings crumbling.
Unfortunately Jacob's memories are erased together with those of all the other people in the city. Him and Queenie have grown quite fond of each other. But thanks to an anonymous gift he is able to put down a security for the loan he needed and is able to open his bakery after all. This bakery turns out to be a huge success. One day Queenie stops by to visit him and it seems that the chemistry between them is still sparkling.
Tina and Newt say their goodbyes and he promises to bring her a copy of his book once it is finished.
The CGI effects throughout the movie are spectacular. I highly recommend watching the movie in 3D. The creatures and their world look incredibly real and close enough to touch. It is rather fascinating to watch a tiny little blue insect flapping its wings right in front of your nose.
The story itself is thought provoking and beautiful. It touches on the age old subject of comparing people of different backgrounds against each other. People who lead different lives and people who have different abilities. Who is right and who is wrong. Who is better and who is not. And how do they treat the creatures around them?
Similarities with today's society is clearly visible to anyone willing to look passed the story of wizardry and transfers the values into the everyday life of the modern world.
We can all learn something from a suitcase full of magical creatures.