Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them is a continuation of the beloved Harry Potter franchise and the screenwriting debut of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. The director for this film, David Yates, directed the final 4 Harry Potter films. In my opinion, he provided the original series with its best productions.

Being a long time reader and fan of Harry Potter, I was scared to see where this new addition would take the series, especially given the fact that the title character of the previous installments would be absent. That fear was not enough to keep me out however, and my feelings proved to be unnecessary.

The movie begins in 1926 with British wizard and magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) arriving in New York with an enchanted briefcase full of magical creatures.

I’ll keep this review spoiler free and simply mention that the computer generated imagery of the magical monsters in this film is amazing.

The characters are flat at times, although to their credit there is a lot going on in this film and it does not provide them with enough time to evolve as much I would have liked to see. I am extremely eager to see where the next films in this series are headed. The shy, animal-loving wizard gave the best performance of the film. Dan Fogler’s portrayal of “muggle” Kowalski was the weakest. Colin Farrell also makes an appearance as an auror for The Magical Congress Of The United States Of America.

This film lit the magical spark of JK Rowling’s world once again.