Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them (**)

Fantastic Beasts is easily one of the most misguided films of the year. Following on the global success of Harry Potter, it made sense that studio heads would seek to milk this cash cow for everything it had to offer. Even with JK Rowling penning the screenplay (which would seem to be promising as a pure extension of the wizarding world) this is a story that a) didn't need to be told, and b) is a chore to sit through.

The story is of Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne, who plays this role with the personality of a thumb tack), a famed Hogwarts dropout who penned the title book; a guide to the care of magical creatures found throughout the world. The story begins with Scamander arriving in New York City in 1926 with a trunk full of animals, hoping to catch a rare specimen from a trader in the city. The story begins when one of his animals escapes and he must try to find it. In the world's largest city, this will prove to be quite the chore.

As you recall from the original Harry Potter films, the set up was the marvel of the stories - introducing us to the world of magic, learning spells, understanding the world.. In fact, the first few films were remarkably cheery and innocent in a way, only getting darker as the evil forces developed over time. With Beasts there are two distinct stories happening: the innocent Scamander trying to find his lost animals, and a dark wizard named Grindelwald terrorizing Europe, all the while the American wizarding community fearing exposure with the arrival of a dark force that is ripping the city apart. It's a contrast of two extremes, and the story can't really decide what kind of tone it should take: one that is family-friendly, and one that is not.

We get to know a bit more about the American side of witchcraft which proves to be an interesting concept but delivers very little on what different cultures would look like. We see their head government office concealed behind an office's revolving door, very much like the Ministry of Magic only everyone has a Brooklyn accent. We meet the President of their community (of America or just New York we can't be sure) whose only focus is to make sure that magical-born people and "no-maj" (the American equivalent of "muggles," which definitely doesn't roll off the tongue as sweetly) remain separate.

For Rowling to have penned this screenplay (and this being her first, no less) it's an admirable attempt and yet completely overwhelming. There are countless scenes that appear to add depth and yet do little more than muddle the story. A prominent subplot features the political campaign of a newspaper head's son, and yet by the end it's inclusion is a puzzle (especially since they cast John Voight in such a throwaway role, no less). Another subplot shows the a woman (Samantha Morton) who preaches "end-of-times" sermons about the presence of witchcraft in the community, and behind the scenes she adopts and occasionally abuses orphans. Even further, a mysterious being ravages entire buildings around the city, chalked up to gas explosions by police, but investigated by wizards as some mysterious dark being. When the title of the movie is "Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them," these beasts ultimately felt like they had been pushed to the back burner in favor of a Harry Potter prequel and NOT a free-standing movie about magical animals.

The good parts come with the cast, especially the character of Jacob (Dan Fogler) who, like Harry Potter in the first film, acts as the outsider to guide the audience through this new world with a questioning and funny persona. He plays a nomaj who gets tied up with Scamander after an unsuccessful loan application at a bank. Exposed to magic for the first time, he acts as comic relief to the ridiculousness of situations at hand. He slowly falls in love with the Auror's sister, Queenie (Alison Sudol) who is both a skilled mindreader and whimsical cook.

This is the first of a 5-part series. I shudder to comprehend the reasoning of studio head honchos who put up so much money on such a gamble (the same can be said about Avatar and the 4 upcoming sequels planned for the near future). It was such a pleasant time when Hollywood valued originality and not a quick cash grab. There is such a fascination with sequels and prequels and reboots (oh, my!) that to find a truly original piece of cinema is becoming harder and harder. For the average movie-goer faced with only these options, the current selection sure looks boring.