Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - Blu-ray

Movie: Seventy years before a certain wizard student named Harry Potter had to battle the evil Voldemort, young wizard Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) came to New York as part of his exploration of magical creatures. But he couldn't have picked a worse time, as the magical world here is in turmoil right now. A dark force keeps haunting the city, leaving traces that are hard to hide from the No-Majs - the American term for Muggles. It must not happen now under any circumstances that the No-Majs learn of the existence of the magical world, which at the moment still exists peacefully next to theirs. But now, of all times, an unfortunate incident occurs whereby the No-Maj Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler) comes into possession of Newt's suitcase full of fantastic animal creatures and accidentally releases some of them. Now the young wizard, the No-Maj and Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston), who is trying to get her old job as an Auror back, must do everything they can to recapture the magical creatures before they cause damage that could lead to an open confrontation between wizards and No-Majs.

With Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, hit writer J.K. Rowling and director David Yates return to the world of Harry Potter. However, without Harry, Hermione, Ron and co. as the new story is set in 1926 New York. True, there are some allusions to Hogwarts and Dumbledore, and Gellert Grindlewald, whose name fans already know, of course, plays a not insignificant role. Apart from that, what Rowling has created here is a whole new world. It has its charm, but it lacks some important elements that made Harry Potter so popular and successful. For one thing, there are characters like Harry and his friends, who were important figures for young readers/viewers to identify with. Newt Scamander, while extremely likeable, will never be able to be the hero to children that Harry was. He's also too quirky and too much of a wizard for that. Harry, for all his abilities, was above all a normal boy who grew from story to story at his tasks. And the film noticeably lacks such a character.

What is also noticeable in a negative way is that the story is set almost entirely in the world of the Muggle - sorry - the No-Majs. This makes it clear what an important and central role a magical place like Hogwarts, with all its little magical details, plays in the world of Harry Potter. The fact that there is no comparable place in the new story literally leaves a certain magic missing. Furthermore, the finale, which is a bit too overstuffed, doesn't really convince either, as it's more reminiscent of superhero destruction orgies like Batman v. Superman than the Harry Potter films. And that feels kind of out of place for a fan of the series.

So much for the criticisms. These sound worse than they actually are. Because even if Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them isn't in the same league as the Harry Potter films as a result, it's still a very entertaining, enchanting and visually stunning piece of work that thrives on some very nice ideas, an imaginative set and very good actors. Eddie Redmayne is perfectly cast as a magic nerd with a soft spot for fantastical animal creatures, and Dan Fogler is a more than likable sidekick for him. In particular, the budding romance between Jacob and Tina's sister Queenie (Alison Sudol) is a hugely charming part of the film, giving it just the soul that the CGI overkill in the finale lacks.

There's a lot of humour, especially in relation to the sometimes very cute, sometimes a little crazy magical animal creatures. It's definitely appropriate for children, though that can't necessarily be said about the rest of the film. The 6+ release is not really appropriate given some very dark moments. The film is absolutely not recommended for children under 10. Otherwise, however, the whole thing has become a really exciting fantasy adventure for young and old, which is a promising start to a new series (a total of five films are planned). If the next part delves even deeper into the magical world and uses a little less unnecessary CGI action, nothing stands in the way of great success. Therefore applies - despite some weaknesses - quite clearly: Absolutely worth seeing!!!

Picture + Sound: The audiovisual conversion of the film for the Blu-ray can convince in almost every respect. Even in the 2D version, the image has a pleasing depth and excellent detail sharpness. The atmospheric color mixing also supports the very positive overall impression, which is not disturbed by blurring or other weaknesses even in the darker moments. The powerful sound is present in an extremely vivid Dolby Atmos mix that really lets it rip in almost every second with minor or major sound effects on all channels. Truly magical and: very good!

Extras: The bonus material leaves a somewhat ambivalent impression. While a fairly good overview of the production is provided, it consists of too many too-short featurettes that ultimately only scratch the surface. Things kick off with Before Harry Potter: A New Era of Magic Begins (15:21 min.), an introductory short documentary about the road to this new chapter in J.K. Rowling's magical universe. Five character featurettes introduce Newt Scamander (approx. 4:14 min.), the Goldstein sisters (approx. 5:04 min.), Jacob (approx. 4:42 min.), the new Salemians (approx. 4:42 min.), and the President and Auror (approx. 5:37 min.). The featurettes about the creatures are of a similar nature. Here, after a general short documentary on Fantastic Beasts (approx. 4:18 min.), the focus is on Bowtruckle (approx. 2:36 min.), Demiguise (approx. 2:20 min.), Erumpent (approx. 3:42 min.), Niftler (approx. 2:29 min.), Occamy (approx. 3:09 min.), and the Thunderbird (approx. 2:25 min.).

Continue with featurettes about the design. Again, there is first an overview of the design of the film's world (approx. 5:54 min.), followed by more in-depth looks at the design of New York City (approx. 7:25 min.), the MACUSA (approx. 7:07 min.), Newt's magical suitcase (approx. 4:59 min.), Shaw's banquet (approx. 4:29 min.), and the magical club Zum blinden Schwein (approx. 4:39 min.). In addition to all these featurettes, the Blu-ray also offers 11 unused scenes. On a very positive note, the effects are largely finished here. There are some quite nice and worth seeing moments to discover. For instance, you get to meet Jacob's ex-fiancée and see more of the world in Newt's suitcase.

Conclusion: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them may not have quite the magical charm of the Harry Potter films. But despite some flaws, the fantasy adventure is still a successful kickoff to a new film series that is guaranteed to hold many a surprise. The 2D Blu-ray presents the film in very good picture and sound quality. The bonus material is worth seeing, but also a little superficial. Overall, however, there is for the disc a deserved: Absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp