‘Fantastic Beasts’ Is Basically a ‘20s Version of Pokémon GO

This article is part of our VICE Weekends summer series, presented by Weis

It's been almost a decade since the Harry Potter book series ended and five years since the curtains closed on the final film, but the Harry Potter universe never really went to ground. This year alone a new play opened in London, a new theme park opened at Universal Studios in Los Angeles, and for better or worse, we've had J. K. Rowling speaking on behalf of our favourite wizarding world characters most days on Twitter.

This week the fantasy adventure franchise expanded further with the release of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Taking its title from a fictional textbook that Harry, Ron and Hermione studied at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the film is part one in what will be a five-film pentaptych.

Despite being directed by David Yates who also helmed the more serious and dark final four Harry Potter films and with its screenplay written by J. K. Rowling herself, Fantastic Beasts offers none of the familiar narrative arcs. There's no tidy school year structure and none of the safety of Hogwarts and its many protective charms.

Fantastic Beasts is set in America where the Ministry of Magic is called MACUSA, Muggles are referred to as No-Majs, and we've gone so far back in time that old wizards of Hogwarts lore like Gellert Grindelwald are in their prime, galavanting about casting darks spells.

The film opens in 1926, with freckle-faced magizoologist Newt Scammander, played by Eddie Redmayne, arriving in New York City. He's fresh from a magical creatures world tour and he's carrying a seemingly bottomless suitcase full of exotic and devilish creatures.

There's not a lot of time spent on why Newt has come to New York with this case of fantastic beasts. At one point he says he entered the United States because he intends to release Frank back into the wild somewhere in Arizona, and even though Frank is an enormous Thunderbird this is maybe the least magical-sounding premise to ever exist.

Needless to say, Newt's hit town and it's 1926–a time where everyone has the same suitcase. And so it goes that our genuinely sweet, but rather absent-minded protagonist accidentally swaps bags with Jacob Kowalski, a No-Maj with a flair for baking, who promptly unleashes a mini menagerie of creatures into the city.

This is bad news because tensions between wizards and No-Majs are fraught, not to mention the fact that all beasts have been outlawed by the Magical Congress. And so begins a '20s version of Pokémon GO, in which Newt sets off on foot to track down and recapture the wonderful and incorrigible beasts he clumsily let escape before they do too much damage.

When it turns out the big bad is not something from Newt's portable zoo, but actually an Obscurus–a dark force inadvertently created by young children who suppress their magic, out of fear of discovery or persecution by the non-magical community–the film begins to deliver. Once it errs away from slapstick, there's noteworthy scenes from its impressive lineup of adult actors and some stunning visual effects that honour J.K. Rowling's and David Yates' wild imagination.

Fantastic Beasts isn't the most impactful blockbuster in the Harry Potter franchise, but neither was Philosopher's Stone. Both series openers withhold many details, but successfully setup a foundation so that the films that follow can deliver on drama. With Fantastic Beasts, certainly a stage has been set for a showdown between wizards Dumbledore and Grindelwald.

The film stars Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Samantha Morton, Jon Voight, Carmen Ejogo and Colin Farrell in supporting roles. We don't know how many will return in the upcoming films, but certainly Ezra's Crucible-looking Credence and Alison and Dan as sweethearts Queenie and Jacob offer the most promise and intrigue.

The original book series was a triple threat of wonder, humor, and heart that ushered a generation from adolescence to adulthood with yearly lessons on friendship and hardship. Potterheads have grown up a little since, and Eddie's depiction of Newt as a wide-eyed and caring boy-man is an excellent choice to fill The Boy Who Lived-sized hole. Newt is an eccentric, introverted and optimistic wizard to lead us in these dark times. He's a Hufflepuff with an egalitarian ethos, who, as Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore once said of fellow Hufflepuff Cedric Diggory, he's someone who is "exceptionally hard working, infinitely fair-minded, and most importantly a fierce, fierce friend." Which means that for the next few years there's more wonder, humor and heart to be had.

This article is presented by Weis