Go back to the Wizarding World — 70 years earlier. J.K. Rowling’s newest adventure in the Harry Potter universe comes in the form of “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” a movie that takes place seven decades before Voldemort kills Lily and James Potter. The movie is loosely based on Harry’s textbook of the same name and is the first addition to the Potterverse to make its debut on the screen rather than the page. And while Harry’s journey may have ended, the magic is still going strong with this movie. Spoilers below.
The movie opens with a series of newspaper headlines (including the Daily Prophet) about Gellert Grindelwald’s recent attacks in Europe. If the name Grindelwald sounds familiar, it should. Grindelwald was the biggest dark wizard of all time (before Voldemort, of course) and friend of the teenage Albus Dumbledore. Grindelwald was the one who introduced Dumbledore to the Deathly Hallows — and killed his sister. “Fantastic Beasts” takes place some years after Dumbledore and Grindewald go their separate ways; Dumbledore is a transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts, and Grindelwald is on the loose.
After the barrage of headlines, we meet our new protagonist: Newt Scamander. Newt is a magizoologist (one who studies magical creatures) that travels the world detailing magical creatures to compile what will one day be Harry Potter’s textbook. When we first meet him, he is on a ship docking at Ellis Island, holding a battered briefcase. However, this is no ordinary suitcase, for it is filled with magical creatures. Later in the movie, Newt accidentally switches briefcases with no-maj (the American vernacular for Muggle) Jacob Kowalski and the creatures get loose in Manhattan. On his journey to recapture those creatures, Newt meets the Goldstein sisters: Tine (ex-Auror) and Queenie (Legilimens). Together with Jacob, the four of them make what is being referred to as the “quartet” that mirrors Potter’s trio.
Running parallel to Newt’s story is Percival Graves’s. Graves is the Director of Magical Security (the American version of the Head of Magical Law Enforcement) at the Magical Congress of the United States of America, or MACUSA for short (America’s version of the Ministry of Magic). A weird black shape is terrorizing the no-majs, and its Graves’s job to find out. However, Graves isn’t the only one investigating the shape. No-maj Mary Lou is the leader of the Second Salemers, a cult that seeks to prove to the world that “witches live among us,” and is basically the evil version of Petunia Dursley. Mary Lou beats the children at the orphanage/church that she runs, especially her adopted son Credence. Throughout the course of the movie, it is revealed that Graves has enlisted Credence to help him find the black shape.
The quartet’s and Graves’s storylines combine, and Graves falsely accuses Newt of letting the black shape loose along with his other creatures before Seraphina Picquery, president of MACUSA. Newt and Tina are sentenced to death, but Jacob and Queenie help them escape. The four immediately become fugitives (much like Harry in the seventh book) and set out to round up the rest of the creatures and clear their names.
After getting all the creatures back into the case (including the adorable and incredibly mischievous Niffler), Newt finds out that the black shape that has been terrorizing the city was actually Credence all along. It turns out that Credence was an Obscurial, a wizard who is so afraid to express his magic that he conceals it; that magic then turns inward and turns him into an unstable magical force (a new concept that may explain Ariana Dumbledore’s mysterious sickness). And, in a Barty Crouch Jr./Mad-Eye Moody type of reveal, it turns out that Grindewald was masquerading as Graves the whole time. In an epic three-way battle between Newt, Credence, and Grindelwald, Newt is able to destroy Credence (maybe) and capture Grindelwald. Grindelwald is carted away by MACUSA and the quartet has their name cleared by MACUSA. The movie ends with Newt going back to London to finish his book, but promising to come back to see Tina (for a romance had sprung between them). Unfortunately, Jacob has to be Obliviated (have his memories erased) because the American wizarding world is a secret, but not before a quick kiss from Queenie (for a romance had also sprung between these two).
“Fantastic Beasts” is an exhilarating and satisfying return to the Wizarding World, and sets up an exciting story arc for the next four movies to come. Junior Julia Iovino loved “Fantastic Beasts” because it has “amazing acting and special effects.” After seeing the movie, junior Tiffany Chuen said it “was like rediscovering the magic that I loved about the Harry Potter world.” Fellow junior Joanne Nguyen loved the Niffler and hopes that “he will be back in the next movie.” With new concepts like Obscurials and wand-produced umbrellas, junior Kaitlyn Riha called the movie “so magical and creative” because “it brought a whole new perspective to the wizarding world that wasn’t presented in the Harry Potter series.” The movie was definitely darker than the first few Harry Potter movies, but several funny moments balance the film out. There are so many possibilities for this series — the infamous Dumbledore-Grindelwald duel, the first opening of the Chamber of Secrets, the birth of Voldemort — that there is no telling where Newt will lead us next. Although, the rumor is that the next movie, set for the fall of 2018, will take place in the city of love — Paris.