By Jim Tortolano
The original “Harry Potter” series of movies started off wonderfully but eventually lapsed into repetition and almost self-parody. There’s a new series of J.K. Rowling tales coming to the movie houses of the world and we can only hope that there’s not a return engagement of the same arc.
Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) comes to the Big Apple on a mission of cataloging magical critters in the New World. He accidentally swaps briefcases with Jacob Kowalksi (Dan Fogler) and much confusion ensues.
They run afoul of the Magical Congress of the United States of America, which is struggling to keep the existence of mages, wizards, witches, warlocks and consultants hidden from the “no-maj”(Yankee equivalent of muggle) public.
But the second half picks up the pace and there’s enough CGI action and inventive biology to keep your attention to the handoff to … the next four movies.
There are several fine performances here but the ones which stand out are Farrell’s slow reveal from earnest lawman to … something else, and Waterston’s almost-teary empathy.
If the rest of the series can keep turning up new stuff to marvel at, this is a fine start. If not, it’s bound to just be the start of a most unfantastic journey.
“Fantastic Beasts” is rated PG-13 for make-believe violence.