Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the compelling story of Newt Scamander, a collector of magical creatures, who has just arrived in 1926’s New York City. Set in the Harry Potter Universe, it is one of the year’s most highly anticipated films, both written and directed by David Yates and JK Rowling.

The story is exceptionally gripping and interesting to watch. Despite the lapse in time between the last JK Rowling movie, the film makes it is easy to slip back into the wizarding world. The movie is truly a standalone film from Harry Potter and altogether a refreshing addition to the franchise.

Fantastic Beasts manages to create a world entirely different yet equally as captivating.  Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) is a unique character concerned more with his creatures than people.  His slightly awkward yet well-meaning nature makes him a main character who is easily likable and compelling to the audience.

The film starts off a little slow, as the plot line is introduced. While it can be rather tedious, it is a common drawback of origin stories. Clearly, this is the direction producers are headed as the Fantastic Beasts series is set to have an installment of four more movies in the future.

In the exposition, three other important characters emerge and the story unfolds. Non-magical or “No-Maj” Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler) is a factory worker, Newt meets at a bank when Jacob is trying to get a loan to open his own bakery. Following a mishap, Newt and Jacob accidentally switch brief cases, Newt’s containing an entire world of magical creatures that he collects to rehabilitate. When Jacob opens this case some of these creatures are released into New York. Thus begins the story.

Newt’s case filled with an extraordinary plethora of creatures is one of the most visually exciting and unique aspects of the film. The animations are completely stunning and life-like and certainly a highlight of the movie. The creatures are imaginative and otherworldly which is fascinating to see and adds a lot to the movie.

Jacob serves as an onlooker, entirely enthralled by the wizarding world. He offers the audience a distinction between treatment of “no-majs” in the Fantastic Beast’s 1920s time period versus that of the modern day wizarding world portrayed in Harry Potter.  His character is well liked and becomes a trusted friend and companion to Newt. Jacob adds a lot of charm and humanity to the film as a normal guy caught in extraordinary circumstances.

One of Newt’s escaped creatures is seen by Porpentina “Tina” Goldstein, a member of the

Magical Congress of the United States of America (MCUSA), and he is arrested for releasing magical creatures in New York City. Tina, portrayed by Katherine Waterson, is devoted to following the rules and abides by an obvious strict moral conduct. Personally, I felt her character came off a little rigid, and her blind devotion to rules became irritating, as she repeatedly caused issues for the group by going out of her way to try to get Newt in trouble to an extent that was not wanted or called for.  Seemingly created to convey a person dedicated to justice, the character misses the mark and just seems overly critical and nit-picky.

The final member of the group is Queenie, Tina’s sister, who is played by Alison Sudol. She has the ability to read minds, and is very charming and enticing character. She goes out of her way to help and gets the group out of trouble on more than one instance. Queenie is one of my favorite characters because she has such a magnetic personally and is able to connect with the other characters in a way that furthers and deepens the plot while providing insight and background for each individual.

As with the Potter tales, the film takes on a more sinister tone. By the end of the film, we find that a character originally introduced in Harry Potter, will have a part in the prequel which will further serve to connect both of these story lines.  The movie plays with multiple coexisting story lines between the characters and it blends to make a very entertaining and exciting movie.

I won’t spoil the plot more than that because if you haven’t seen Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them I highly recommend you watch it yourself. It far exceeded my expectations and manages to balance and maintain the charm of the Harry Potter universe with an entirely new plot to explore.  The movie is immersive and visually stunning and I think truly one everyone can enjoy.