Beautiful stand-alone film; great character depth in Newt

Rating: 10/10 (24 November 2016)

Without any spoilers, this review will be shorter than I would like, for a film so delightful in its entirety. However, no spoilers here, since I would never risk ruining the discovery for a new viewer, or cheating anyone out of the development of Newt's character, richly portrayed by Eddie Redmayne.
First off, the visuals in the movie are positively spectacular! Today I enjoyed some of the most realistic effects I have ever witnessed in a film, and the acting reflected this as well. The spells, the creatures, and the action are all delicious, and utterly believable on screen.
Even better than the visuals was the main character, Newt Scamander; he and the other leads complemented each other masterfully. Newt begins as an odd person, slightly out of place, and always watchful, as one might expect any new wizard might appear, arriving in the USA from the UK in 1926. Newt's concern for the creatures he studies is revealed in smaller stages early on, but midway through the film we see his powerful understanding as he explains his chosen purpose in more detail. I was moved and, again, delighted by the way he follows this, and Eddie Redmayne embodies this character with flair throughout the story's evolution.
The other central characters were well revealed, though not all as deeply as Newt's, but again, these are people for whom you will come to care deeply by the end of this installment. I have heard that there are others to follow this story, and yet it stands alone, beautifully told and well-contained without any background in the (later-set) Harry Potter universe. Ten out of ten stars!