(Also published on my blog site, whingewood.wordpress.com)

I've been putting off seeing this for a while now (for no particular reason), but decided to go before they stop showing it. I've not seen or read all of the Harry Potter series, but enjoyed what I have. Thankfully, you don't need to know anything about that series going into this film.

The story follows Newt (played by Eddie Redmayne) as he goes to New York with his case full of beasts, one or more of them escape, antics ensue.

The visual effects were up to the usual standard for Harry Potter films, which is to say, very good. Personally, I particularly liked the effect for the teleportation (which there was a lot of).

Despite having the word 'fantastic' in the title, this felt a lot less fantastical than the Harry Potter series. However, I am not listing that as a negative, but am instead just making an observation. I think this is due in part to the fact that the main character (Newt) is already extremely familiar with the wizarding world, and it wasn't necessary to go overemphasise the magical aspects (don't get me wrong; there is a lot of magic going on in this film, it's just that they don't go 'this is a MacGuffin, it does this' a lot. Basically, there is a lot less exposition.).

The film progressed at a decent pace, and I didn't find myself bored at any time, which is usually a good sign. The ending had an interesting reveal, and although this film did feel 'complete', it definitely leaves room for sequels.