How do you make a Harry Potter film without Harry Potter?

Rating: Null/10 (24 February 2017)

How do you make a Harry Potter film without Harry Potter in it? Well this is the question that Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them has had to answer and it does so in very good fashion.
Fantastic Beasts is the first film in a new planned five film series written by the genius herself JK Rowling and directed by Harry Potter favourite David Yates. Coming into this movie the tone and the relationship to the series that came before it is a hard act to follow, you don't want this film to be too much like its predecessor, but you still want people to feel that they exist in the same world. Fantastic Beasts gives you a little bit of both of these options.
Set a pretty substantial budget of 180million dollars, Fantastic Beasts looks, feels and sounds great with a whole new version of New York created specifically for the film using spectacular CGI. Also accompanying the film is a haunting soundtrack that gives the film a more serious tone that adds to the suspense.
Set in a wizarding 1926 New York, the story centres on two plot lines really, the first being Newt Scamander a magical zoologist travelling the world in a bid to find and document rare creatures, which he carries in his magical suitcase. When his suitcase gets mixed up with one that belongs to the No-Maj (non magical) Jacob, some of Newt's fantastic beasts escape and cause problems in New York.
The second and perhaps hazier part of the film centres on the Magical Congress of the United States of America or (MACUSA) and their efforts to hide the magical world. Enter Percival Graves played by Colin Farrell and his obsession with finding magical children who have suppressed their abilities through fear to the point where they become something known as an Obscurus, basically a huge tornado of black smoke. Now this part of the film all sounds rather quite dull and to be honest it is, I wouldn't go as far to say it spoiled the story but it let the film down, as it will be completely lost on younger viewers.
The casting for Fantastic Beasts was great, Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne feels perfectly cast in the main role as Newt Scamander. He portrays perfectly the awkward and introverted character that prefers the company of animals rather than humans. Another great edition is newcomer Dan Fogler as the bumbling down on his luck Jacob Kowalski, who is thrust into the magical world by chance. Other mentions should go to Ezra Miller who plays the awkward and troubled Credence Barebone and Colin Farrell who was surprisingly good as one of the main villains.
All in all, Fantastic beasts does a great job of telling its tale in the Harry Potter universe but very much stands apart as its own story that can be enjoyed separately, I would highly recommend Fantastic Beasts even if you aren't a Potter fan. 4 out of 5 Stars.