Years have passed since the release of the seventh and final Harry Potter movie, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” part two, marking a great ending for the Harry Potter series. However, the complex universe J.K. Rowling has written up has lots more to explore, particularly the times before Harry Potter was even born, resulting in Rowling’s newest project, the film “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.” Unlike “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” which is a play Rowling wrote that continues the story of Harry and his family, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” takes us years into the past before Voldemort was ever a problem.

In the first Harry Potter book, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” is a textbook that the first years at Hogwarts have to buy to study. The textbook is written by Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), and the new film shows Newt figuring out what he wants to put in his book. The movie is set somewhere in the 1920s, approximately 70 years before the Harry Potter books.

Though Newt is from England, where Hogwarts is located, a majority of the film is set in New York. The Harry Potter books only briefly mention other countries, (mostly in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” where wizards from all around the world come for a Quidditch championship in the beginning) and while we don’t get to see the American wizarding school, there is playful banter between Newt and the other characters about which school is better. There is also a US version of the Ministry of Magic, which is basically the wizarding government.

The film starts out with a bunch of newspapers reporting that Gellert Grindelwald has escaped from Azkaban, the wizarding prison. Afterwards, Newt is seen frantically sneaking around a bank trying to recapture one of his creatures. While he’s doing it, he accidentally captures the attention of a muggle, Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler). Newt manages to get out of the bank with the creature, but is confronted by Porpentina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston), who works with the Ministry. Unfortunately, a bunch of creatures escape Newt’s hold, and they run off around New York. With a bunch of creatures on the loose, Newt, Porpentina, and her sister, Queenie, along with Kowalski, hurry to find the creatures before they expose the wizarding world.

The CGI was really good, and the dragons and other creatures looked bright and real. The set was different from the Harry Potter movies, as this movie is set in a separate time period. This means that there were different kinds of cars in the background, the telephones were old-fashioned and everyone was dressed in very modest clothing. The Harry Potter series, while it lacked the usual technology the real world has, had modern cars and clothes.

In the Harry Potter movies, the main villain is just an evil wizard named Voldemort who wants all power for himself. However, while there is a villain in the new series, a new type of dark magic is introduced to the wizarding world called an obscurus. This new element is taking the complexity of the magical universe to a new level.

“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” expressed the importance of friendship, loyalty, and being unashamed of what you love. While the rest of the wizarding world views the creatures as monsters, Newt is eager to show others that there is nothing to fear. This movie is a great addition to the Harry Potter universe, and there is room for sequels in the future.

Rating: A+