By Cynthia Ayala

“The adventures of writer Newt Scamander in New York’s secret community of witches and wizards seventy years before Harry Potter reads his book in school.”

—IMDB

In one word: magical. I know that’s to be expected but the film brings more to the world of Harry Potter as it traverses new territory in so many ways.

Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them brings Newt Scamander to New York city combining the dark element’s that grew the Harry Potter franchise up as well as a fun light scavenger hunt through New York to bring new and magical creatures to life in the film. Two stories that intersect perfectly. There are obviously those moments that will make the audience want to scream but that’s only because of the direction of the story, and it’s not a bad thing. In life, there are those moments when people above station place blame when they themselves don’t pay attention. It’s not a bad thing, it’s a realistic thing that provides the film one of many grounding moments. (There were times through all the Harry Potter books and films that I just wanted to scream at the characters for being stupid.) Then there is the heart of the film that will make the audience laugh, cry and just say “aww” repeatedly. It was a well-structured film that was just mesmerizing and it makes the viewer second guess themselves. Continue reading “A Worthy Precursor to the Magical World of Harry Potter | Review of ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’”