Movie Review: Of Thrill, Mystery, Sparkles, Visuals, Magic and Absolute Brilliance!- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

***Spoiler Alert!***
The Spin-off of Harry Potter franchise had made Potter-heads go bonkers when it was announced. Then it was announced that Eddie Redmayne (Theory of Everything and The Danish Girl fame) was cast as Newt Scamander and that David Yates (Director of last 4 Harry Potter movies) will be directing this venture. Though Yates was not able to make his magic work with Tarzan, I've expected him to work wonders with Fantastic Beasts. Then, great talents as Colin Farrell, Jon Voight, Ezra Miller and of course, Johnny Depp join in and make this movie one of the most anticipated movie of this year. Trailers boasted of quality, action, thrill and magic. Let's see if the movie has managed to live to the expectations.

Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) reaches NY in 1926 with a case full of magical creatures with an intent to release Frank, a giant Eagle-like creature. One among them, is a Niffler, sneaky duckbill platypus-looking animal, which has a thing for shiny objects. She gets out of the case, stealing all the shiny objects she can get her hands on. This results in a ruckus resulting in the case getting in the hands of a struggling baker, Mr. Kowalski (Dan Fogler). Subsequently, The Beasts escape into a NY, that has been experiencing inexplicable events resulting in panic among the residents. As the word of Underground Magic Council hiding and operating in USA gets strong, this event of beasts going loose in NY endangers the Council's exposure. Newt, Mr. Kowalski and Ms. Goldstein (Katherine Waterston) decide to find the Beasts and get them back to safety. Meanwhile, a dark entity is parading NY streets and committing murders. Mr. Graves (Colin Farrell) is given the responsibility to find the mystery behind the murders and bring the dark matter to justice. Will Newt succeed in getting beasts to safety, who is Mr. Graves exactly and what are his intentions form the rest of the story.

Must say, the visuals are top-notch. NY from 1926, magical creatures and action sequences are executed perfectly. While Harry Potter was a focused mostly on kids, Fantastic Beasts follow a more darker path. It keeps the audience on the edge of their seat and guessing the mystery. With certain references to Hogwarts and Prof. Dumbledore, it even manages to get Potter-heads excited. Of the beasts, Frank, a Buckbeak lookalike steals the show. The movie has full of likable characters. Hell, we even root for the role of Mr. Graves at a certain point! A tour into the case with beasts is a sequence worth watching and an experience worth living. It makes you feel if only such beasts were truly alive on the Earth. Eddie Redmayne, Colin Farrell and Ezra Miller steals the show from performance. Cinematography with long and wide shots is excellence. The final reveal makes audience even more excited for future releases from this franchise. And oh, the beasts, you'll keep gazing at them with awe!

Highlights:

  • Fantastic Beasts
  • Visuals & Cinematography
  • Lead Performances
  • Screenplay
  • Music
What do Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them do best?
       Visual effects people! Seriously, can't stress this enough.

Verdict: Avada Kedavra on the audience. That too in a good way!

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