Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Or, Harry Potter and the Quest for More Money.

The boy wizard defeated Voldemort five years ago in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2. But Warner Bros. isn't done with JK Rowling's magical world. They've now turned to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a paltry size de-fictionalized Hogwarts textbook as the jumping point for a five-film series. Let's see how it is.

The Hogwarts textbook is credited to Newt Scamander, played here by Eddie Redmayne. Scamander is a "magizoologist" who keeps magical creatures in the nature preserve inside his suitcase. He goes to New York, 1926, to find some more magical creatures. But the critters have a nasty habit of escaping and causing trouble. He inadvertently gets the attention of the Magical Congress of the United States (MACUSA). Together with No-Maj (American Muggle) aspiring baker Kowalski (Dan Fogler), Magical Congress Agent Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston) and her sister Queenie (Alison Sudol), they have to track down the creatures before people find out about Wizards and Witches.

There's also a Fundamentalist group, the Second Salemers, who suspect there are Witches in New York. Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller), son of the group's cruel leader, Mary Lou (Samantha Morton), has a secret. Mr. Graves (Colin Farell), the head of MACUSA security, wants to use that secret. The evil Wizard Gellert Grindelwald (a surprise cameo) lurks in the background. Maybe five movies were necessary.

JK Rowling herself wrote the screenplay which director David Yates visualized. The plot is crammed with exposition as tight as a Hogwarts study session. All sorts of magical creature names and taxonomy and the like; not to mention the human names. At least there's no mandatory exam once the movie's done.

The film has us suspect Credence's sister Modesty of having his dark secret. The actual reveal was strong. The reveal of Gellert Grindlewald would've been stronger if he didn't share the same hairstyle with the character he's disguised as.

One thing I didn't have a problem with that others did is "No-Maj" instead of "Muggle." It's probably just another natural divergence between American and British English. Like "Fish & Chips" vs "Fish & French Fries." Anyway...

The visual effects render the magical creatures in wondrous CGI form. My favorite creature is the Niffler, a kleptomaniac platypus who inadvertently instigates the whole plot. Gnarlack is a motion-capture rendered goblin made awesome by Ron Perlman being himself. The production and costume design for the Roaring Twenties New York was also cool. The cinematography by Phillipe Rousselot (A River Runs Through It) is great for both whimsy and horror.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them seems a tall order for five films. But at least this installment doesn't pad out scenes to their unnecessary limit. The plot is both stretched out and crammed in. But it knows its limits at 133 minutes. The next installment is due for 2018; let's hope it gets the plot ball rolling faster.