JK Rowling gets sole writing credit for adapting her own story but I reckon she was helped out a lot by Steve Kloves who gets the producer credit here but wrote most of the other Harry Potter films.

Newt Scamander is the author of a classic textbook at Hogwarts when Harry Potter started his first year at school. Here we see Newt (Eddie Redmayne) as a young man as he researches Fantastic beasts and has come to America to release a Thunderbird into the wild.

It is 1926 New York where things have become chaotic in the wizarding world with a criminal on the loose, the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA) fears that their world might be discovered by humans especially as some magical entity is causing destruction in the city just as Newt and his suitcase containing the menagerie of fantastic beasts have landed.

Also there is an anti-magic street preacher, Mary Lou Barebone (Samantha Morton) is trying to unveil wizards and witches to a disbelieving audience including sceptical newspaper publisher Henry Shaw (Jon Voight.)

The MACUSA have sent security enforcer Percival Graves (Colin Farrell) a mysterious and powerful wizard himself to find out what is causing the chaos in New York and he pressures Mary Lou's adopted son Credence (Ezra Miller) to help him. Newt on the other hand is also being pursued by a security official Porpentina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston) who wants to get into MACUSA's good books.

In this prequel world of Harry Potter we see the fault lines being drawn that would ripple through to Harry Potter's time. This first film expands the wizarding world to America who seem to be more stricter, no contact with muggles here. The story though owes a bit to the Philosopher's Stone especially when it comes to unveiling the real villain.

There are several mentions of Hogwarts cruelly called Hogwash in one instance, Dumbledore is also mentioned but it is a film in its own right, there are also some fantastic beasts but I did not think this is a film that will enchant a generation of kids like the Harry Potter books and films. The reason, it is not focused on the children characters and we do not see the world from their eyes but Scamander who tries to be childlike.

Redmayne's Scamander was a little too downbeat and bumbling for my liking. Porpentina was just irritating although her sister Queenie (Alison Sudol) brought the right level of sexiness and charm and her relationship with Jacob was very believable and tender.