by Jordan Smith

Fantastic. That simply and accurately sums up what I thought about the movie “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.” As an adamant Harry Potter fan, and also an active J.K. Rowling fan, this film was in the top five films I’ve been dying to see.

When I first learned that J.K. Rowling wrote a couple more books about pre and post-Harry Potter I wanted to read them. I’m going to be honest, I haven’t had the time to read the new books, but the movie was still great.

This movie was a perfect mixture of suspense, humor and even a little bit of romance with a sort of “scary movie” feel. If anyone knows me, they know I am a fan of comedy and horror movies, so that earned this film a couple more stars in my book.

Just like the title says, the beasts in the movie were pretty fantastic. The thought of the magical creatures was beautiful, and it made me want to take one home as a pet. This film gave me yet another reason to want to live in the “Wizarding World.”

If you’re looking for a film about Harry Potter, this isn’t the one you should choose. J.K. Rowling allowed her audience to understand that there is more to the “Wizarding World” than just the boy who lived and his story of defeating the Dark Lord. Many fans, including myself, probably went into this movie expecting it to be a spin-off from “Harry Potter,” which was not the case. Now, Harry Potter’s world was not eliminated, but it was incorporated in a creative and thoughtful way that made me wonder how it all ties together.

I wanted to read the book to begin with, but this movie gave me much more motivation to learn a little more about how the two fit together to create a bigger story.

Being such a huge Harry Potter fan, I went into this movie a bit skeptical but still excited, and it completely exceeded my expectations. I can honestly give this movie a 5 out of 5 rating, and I advise anyone who is even slightly into magical creatures to see it.