More of the Same, but Different.

Rating: 7/10 (20 November 2016)

It has been five years since the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows part 2 and if I am being honest I did not really like the last 3-4 Harry Potter movies, despite being a huge fan of the books and earlier movies. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the first spin off movie in the Harry Potter universe and with that comes some pretty big expectations. The fan base is anxiously awaiting more stories from the magical mind of J.K. Rowling and with her taking sole writing credit on this movie, we really get a good look at what this world will look like in future movies.
Lets start with the plot. Any true Potter fan knows that in the original series "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" is what the students at Hogwarts use to study magical creatures. With this in mind I expected to learn about the writing of the book and traveling across the globe finding...well fantastic beasts. The movie takes another direction and chronicles Newt Scamander's trip to New York and while there he gets wrapped up in a sort of magical mystery he must help solve. While not what I expected I am not necessarily disappointed with the plot, but in a movie titled "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" I expected a bit more about the creatures that we eventually got.
The cast of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is deep and extremely solid. Led by Eddie Redmayne, who seems to be playing a character with very much the same demeanor as his own really plays the star well and provides a great hero. Katherine Waterston takes what I believe is her first big step into the public eye. She is great here and I think is poised for big things. Colin Farrel is serviceable in his mysterious role, but I wish he could have used his real accent. Rounded out by Dan Fogler, Samantha Morton and John Voight the world gets filled out with some strong characters from both the magical world and the real world.
One of my biggest concerns coming into this movie was the tone and the relationship to the series that came before it. It is a hard line to play, you don't want this movie 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. It is certainly its own movie, and other than maybe having a better understanding of the world and getting a few extra Easter eggs, does not require viewing the previous series. That being said I wish there were a few more hints to flesh out the world. It would not make sense to mention Harry or really almost anyone involved in his story because Fantastic Beasts takes place 70 years prior to those events but I felt it would have been nice to see a few more friendly sights.
Fantastic Beasts had to be more of the same, but different. As I have said before this is a difficult task, but I believe this movie has for the most part succeeded. Much like last years Star Wars The Force Awakens, I was not really blown away by the variety of new creatures. They were there and I will give credit to both movies for tacking such a difficult task but both failed to create the same wonder as their predecessors. That does not mean that these were not good movies. Both I think are solid continuations of beloved franchises and both give me a good feeling about the future to come. I would say most Potter fans will enjoy this movie, and it brings enough new things to the table to keep the series from feeling stale. I am excited to see where this magical series takes us next.