Returning to the Wizarding World of J.K. Rowling

Rating: Null/10 (20 November 2016)

"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" is a film that is at first fantastically uneven, but finishes as a satisfying return to the world of magic created by J.K. Rowling.
Adapted for the screen by Ms. Rowling herself, based on her own book of the same name published as a companion to her "Harry Potter" novels in 2001, "Fantastic Beasts" follows the New York adventures of magical creature preservationist Newt Scamander, played by Eddie Redmayne (Academy Award Best Actor for his role as Dr. Stephen Hawking in "The Theory of Everything").
Set in 1927, Director David Yates ("Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"; "Harry Party and the Half-Blood Prince"; "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1 & 2") and Ms. Rowling mistakenly focus the first act of the film on the technology and art department's visual re-creation of prohibition-era New York, instead of carefully crafting their characters and their motivations. It is frustrating to watch characters whom we don't know acting foolishly on screen for the first 25 minutes. I prefer screenplays where the writer develops at least one character in the first act that the audience feels for, either positively and negatively, and will follow as the drama unfolds.
Ms. Rowling fails to do this for her protagonist, Newt, whom we see merely wide-eyed and maddeningly careless as his suitcase full of magical creatures gets loose. As the film progresses in the second and third acts, we finally get to know Newt and understand his motivations, but it would have been nice not to be so frustrated with him at the beginning of the film. Setting aside that major flaw, the last two thirds of the film carries through with a clearer and better paced plot.
Mr. Redmayne is assisted by an excellent supporting performance by Ezra Miller ("The Perks of Being a Wallflower"; the Flash in the upcoming "Justice League" feature film), who plays Credence Barebone, a young man forced into servitude by a religious sadistic cult leader, played by Samantha Morton. Collin Farrell is solid as mysterious Mr. Graves, who is an American auror (magical law enforcement officer). My last casting note is that there is a very special cameo by a world famous actor playing Gellert Grindelwald, the most powerful dark wizard prior to Lord Voldemort.
The art and special effects department working with director of photography Philippe Rousselot ("Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"; "Big Fish"; "Planet of the Apes") create a beautiful, idealized vision of New York in the roaring 20s. Each frame of the film looks great.
(Mr. Yates seems to have a penchant for crane shots that pull back to a long shot. This is usually used as a master shot to set the scene, and visually manipulates the audience into seeing the grandeur of the sets blended with CGI artistry as the story expands. I didn't mind being manipulated most of the time, but it felt a bit overdone after two or three.)
In the end, I enjoyed this film. While not perfect, "Fantastic Beasts" is a decent way to spend 133 minutes during Thanksgiving week or weekend.