Review of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) by Tom B — 13 Jun 2018

I am a massive Potterhead. This series has basically supplanted Star Wars as my favourite of all time because of the absolute love and detail put into it by everybody involved.

Fantastic Beasts really scratches that itch of jumping back into the Wizarding World after the end of the Harry Potter series, but it absolutely assumes you are at least partly familiar with the source material.

The characters are well portrayed, and lovable, with the muggle very nearly stealing the show. It expands the world building from Hogwarts and Great Britain to the Americas and the rest of the world, which is awesome.

However, one nagging issue I had was that the Wizard characters avoided using magic (spells we've already know exist) in situations where it would have helped immensely. I can only assume the reason for this was to insert some visual set-pieces, but it seemed like a real oversight.

I really appreciate and respect that JK Rowling is writing these screenplays because I believe the original author should always have final say over their creations as long as they live. Now I can't wait for more!