J.K. Rowling’s new wizard movie a somewhat dull experience
In the Wizarding World of J.K. Rowling, questions abound. The films tend to be light on answers, but then their purpose isn’t to provide enlightenment. As with all franchises, the films are simply a way to cash in on the imaginations of book readers who fill in the blanks as they go.
The final novel was finished in 2007 and the films were finished in 2012, but the fans have never believed it was over. Neither have the studios. Rowling continues to add to the universe through theme parks and short stories, and various bits of reference materials—she even had a major release just this year, with a Harry Potter story in the form of a play.
None of these quite fill the hole left by the ending of the series proper, but if Hollywood has anything to say about it, there will be wizard stories for years to come.
This year’s addition is Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a film loosely based on a short encyclopedia of magical creatures written by Rowling to benefit Comic Relief. There’s not much in the book in way of a story, but Rowling herself stepped in as screenwriter for the movie and, like several of Scamander’s CGI creatures, the franchise once again takes wing. But it never quite soars. Instead, it just sort of hovers unsatisfyingly.
Despite my general disinterest in all things Harry Potter, I was never able to dismiss the films. They were on the whole well-made. While I might not have cared, I couldn’t ignore their quality. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the first film that I found to be somewhat dull.
Often, I can gauge my interest in a film by the number of distracting questions I have while watching. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them takes place in New York City, making in the first wizard film set in the New World.
My first question, as I watched the inimitable Newt Scamander arrive at Ellis Island, is why would a wizard who can cast a spell and travel thousands of miles, arrive in America by steamboat? My wife, who is quite the Harry Potter fan, explained that there must be some regulation against apparating between sovereign borders and wizards, by and large, follow the rules. Fair enough, I suppose.
Scamander arrives by steamboat with a suitcase full of magical creatures in order to set one free in the wilds of Arizona. Of course, all manner of hijinks ensues and Scamander ends up switching cases with a muggle (known to Americans as a No-mag) who accidentally lets a few loose in the city.
Behind the scenes are a conflicts with a dark wizard set on starting a war with non-magical folk and the New Salem Society, an organization set on convincing the world that witches exists and should be exterminated.
There are several scenes involving the Magical Congress of the United States, the ruling faction of wizards in the land of the free. I wondered for much of the film what differences there were between the New and Old World wizards. Beyond accents, they operate much the same way—secrecy, casual hatred of muggles, and a smug sense of superiority.
I would have expected the American wizards to be more independent, more enterprising, and less regulatory. In particular, I would have expected audience surrogate Jacob Kowalski, a no-mag and veteran of the Great War, to be slightly more indignant at the thought of having his memory wiped. Americans, magical or not, are unlikely to submit to rule by a shadowy organization of great power. But again, these questions are a distraction from the film, rather than an engagement with it.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is understated film, slow paced, with a color palate that loves the gray and browns—it’s as dreary and New York as possible. The film simply seems quiet and far less active when compared to the breakneck action often found in the previous Harry Potter films.
The overall impression the film leaves is colorless. It’s a shrug rather than a smile. For a film with the world fantastic in the title, it falls pretty short of that description. Not to fear though—it will likely be a hit and there are more wizard films to come. And if they fall short, there’s always Marvel’s Doctor Strange.