Adult Spin Off of Harry Potter

Rating: 8/10 (18 November 2016)

I saw "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", starring Eddie Redmayne-Jupiter Ascending, My Week With Marilyn; Dan Fogler-The Goldbergs_tv, Balls of Fury; Katherine Waterston-Steve Jobs, Taking Woodstock and Colin Farrell-Saving Mr. Banks-Crazy Heart.
This is the beginning of a 5 picture franchise that is a spin off of the Harry Potter series-not a sequel or a prequel, but a spin off. It's written by J.K. Rowling and it is in the same Potterverse but it takes place about 70 years earlier, in 1926. Eddie plays Newt Scamander, a person of magic that is traveling to New York from Britain while researching his book about magical creatures-FYI: His book is referenced in the Harry Potter movies as being studied by students at Hogwarts. Eddie is carrying a suitcase with some of these magical creatures inside it but some get loose and draw the attention of the U.S. magical counsel. Katherine is sort of a rule enforcer for the counsel that tries to keep the magical world and the human world separate. Don't want the frail humans to panic, of course, so if a human sees something that they shouldn't, they are magically made to forget whatever they have seen. Oh yeah, in the Potter movies, humans were called Muggles. Here, they use the term No-Mags, which is short for No-Magic, referring to humans that don't have magical abilities. Dan is a No-Mag that becomes friends with Eddie. Colin is a person of magic that is on the counsel. The effects are fantastic and so are the creatures and there is a big name star that makes a cameo near the end of the movie, as the villain. I was a fan of the Harry Potter movies so it is good to get into a version of them that has adults in it, instead of kids. It's rated "PG- 13" for fantasy action and violence and has a running time of 2 hours & 13 minutes. If you liked the Harry Potter movies, you should enjoy this one-and the 4 more in the works. I liked it and would buy it on Blu-Ray.