Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: A Silent Protagonist Film Review
Despite repeat requests, Warner Bros refused to provide Silent Protagonist with a ticket to a press screening of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, forcing our hand and making us review the film after seeing it in a way not intended by its creators. However, as the Lego Dimensions Story Pack box promises that you can "play the complete movie," I can say with whole-hearted confidence that this review is an accurate reflection of the film.
Starring:
- Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander
- Dan Fogler as Jacob Kowalski
- Alison Sudol as Queenie Goldstein
- Ezra Miller as Credence Barebone
- Jenn Murray as Chastity Barebone
- Ron Perlman as Gnarlack
- Carmen Ejogo as Seraphina Picquery
- Colin Farrell as Percival Graves
- Kevin Guthrie as Mr Abernathy
- Faith Wood-Blagrove as Modesty Barebone
- Samantha Morton as Mary Lou Barebone
- Peter Bretimayer as Gilbert Bingley
- Miquel Brown as Executioner #2
- Gemma Chan as Madam Ya Zhou
- Josh Cowdery as Senator Shaw
- Ronan Raftery as Langdon Shaw
Featuring:
- Roger Craig Smith as Sonic the Hedgehog
- Howie Mandell as Gizmo
- Frank Welker as Stripe
- Chell (unvoiced)
- Josh Keaton as Gamer Kid
- Peter Capaldi as the Doctor
- Elizabeth Banks as Wyldstyle
- Troy Baker as Batman
- Travis Willingham as Superman
There is a moment in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (which I will simply refer to Fantastic Beasts for ease from here on out), where the Doctor, played to perfection by Peter Capaldi, reprising his role from Doctor Who, arrives on the TARDIS. With his new companions including Newt Scamander in tow, the Doctor boards the iconic blue box. The TARDIS dematerialises and the group travels approximately three million years into the future, rematerialising on the mining ship Red Dwarf. Aided by Batman (Troy Baker) and Wydstyle (Elizabeth Banks) who had apparently already infiltrated the ship, the Doctor and his cadre of companions loot the ship for whatever goodies they may find. It is this kind of sharpness in JK Rowling’s screenplay which makes Fantastic Beasts a worthy successor to her Harry Potter series.
As adventure films are inclined to do, Fantastic Beasts opens with a bank heist. Newt and his ragtag crew of misfits: Sonic the Hedgehog, Gizmo, Stripe, Chell and Gamer Kid enter the bank, planning on recapturing a niffler — a creature that looks like the end result of a drunken night between a platypus and a mole — likely there to burrow through bank vaults and steal money and valuables. It is here that Newt meets Jacob Kowalski, who will soon become his "no-maj" BFF; and before long, the pesky niffler joins the crew, providing assistance to the team as required. Together, this inseparable team of heroes will work together to recapture a number of beasts and save 1920s New York from the double threat of Credence Barebone and Percival Graves.
Where Rowling’s Harry Potter novels were dense in plot and characterisation, it is somewhat surprising how sparse Fantastic Beasts is by comparison. Falling into the trap that has plagued blockbuster movies since the day George Clooney donned the rubber Bat-nipples, the film keeps scenes furthering the plot and delving into its characters to a minimum. Instead, Rowling takes her cues from JRR Tolkien, with the bulk of the film featuring its characters walking. However, this walking is broken up by the characters solving puzzles, while also engaging in combat against wizards from the Magical Congress of the United States.
While the bulk of the film does focus on walking, puzzles and action, it does still manage find time for a little romance. Dan Fogler’s Jacob Kowalski alone has about as many love interests as James Bond throughout his 24 films, from former fiance Mildred, to half-blood Queenie, in addition to a rhinoceros-like erumpet, and at one point Jacob even goes as far to steal Greta the gremlin’s attention from the troll Gnarlack (a criminally underutilised Ron Perlman).
The use of gremlins in Fantastic Beasts is a stroke of genius. Both Stripe, brought to life by Frank Welker, and Gizmo, performed by Howie Mandell, enrich the world as fantastic beasts in their own right. Newt’s confusion over these creatures, not recognising them from his textbooks, demonstrates that even this book smart lead character is not infallible. Roger Craig Smith’s Sonic the Hedgehog, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog in desperate need of Ritalin, is a particular scene stealer.
Lesser used, however, are certain human additions: the inexplicably mute Chell who provides assistance with her portal gun; and Gamer Kid, played with panache by the great Josh Keaton, who is granted superpowers thanks to his soft drink addiction, lurk in the background and never come to the film’s forefront. The film’s time with humans is dominated by Eddie Redmayne’s quirky but lovable Newt, Fogler’s lovable but quirky Jacob, and Alison Sudol’s manic pixie dream girl Queenie; the three characters providing the narrative’s emotional resonance. Hollywood’s favourite emo kid Ezra Miller’s emo performance of resident emo kid Clarence and Colin Farrell’s channeling of American Psycho’s Christian Bale as the manipulative Percival fare less well, however; serving only to appear menacing and provide the finale’s threat.
With the aforementioned appearances from Batman, the Doctor and Wildstyle, Fantastic Beasts firmly entrenches itself within the DC Extended Universe, confirming its ties to the Lego Extended Universe and the BBC Extended Universe. It features a number of additional cameos hinting at future films, and handles these more naturally than Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad did earler last year. Characters such as the Wicked Witch of the West, Dorothy Gale, Gollum and Two-Face fit beautifully within 1920s New York City, helping to flesh out the city. Newt using his magic to rip open the space time continuum to recruit the assistance of Sloth of The Goonies fame opens up a host of possibilities; while recruiting Superman whose powers help them avoid solving puzzles acts as a statement about the massively overpowered hero becoming a crutch.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them may not be without its flaws, however its world building and cast of characters make it a film well worth viewing.
7.2/10
A note about our film review scores: Normally we watch and evaluate the almost innumerable technical and narrative elements of a film, trying to distill those factors into a final figure that represents the entirety of our thoughts and feelings on the movie. However, as professional video game critics and not movie critics, we are unequipped to do so, and will pluck a number from thin air that makes it appear that we considered the film’s merits. But don’t worry — we never consider a film’s merits, which is why we consider Zoolander 2 to be the greatest sequel this generation has ever seen.
