Film Review: FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM

Director: David Yates

Writer: J.K. Rowling

Stars: Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol

 Review by Gilbert Seah

The spin-off of the HARRY POTTER films that began as one of Harry Potter’s text books in HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE, FANTASTIC BEASTS is a Harry Potter film without Harry Potter. Directed by David Yates who did a number of the Potter films, FANTASTIC BEASTS looks just like a J.K. Rowling film (she wrote the screenplay) despite the fact that it is set in New York City. Perhaps the fact that the film was shot in Liverpool to stand in for NYC could be a reason.

The book contains the history of Magizoology and describes 85 magical species found around the world. To get into the spirit of Harry Potter, Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts (not shown in the film), provides the Foreword and explains the purpose of the special edition…