Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the latest movie installment in the Harry Potter franchise, opened up in theatres on Nov. 18 and thrilled many around the world, whether they were long time Harry Potter fans or not. Personally being a very devoted fan to the franchise, I was ecstatic about the movie, and was dying to get a chance to go and judge for myself what this new series would hold for the Wizarding World. I was a little afraid of being disappointed, but I decided that I would have to give the movie a shot, and look at it as a separate entity, instead of just ‘another Harry Potter film’.

However, not only was Fantastic Beasts a beautiful movie with gorgeous CGI and effects, but the plot was well thought out, with intriguing new characters who all had very distinct personalities. I left the theater hungry for more, and was relieved to find that more movies were indeed planned for production.

For people desperately wanting new Harry Potter content, there is not much to be found, but the movie does provide excellent world building, and new understanding of how the familiar Wizarding World works. This does not mean that non-Harry Potter fans should be discouraged, as the movie does not rely on information from any of the series past, functioning very well as a stand-alone from the Harry Potter franchise.

Fantastic Beasts follows the adventures of Newt Scamander, a young wizard, accompanied by a regular ‘no-maj’ human named Jacob Kowalski, and Tina Goldstein, a witch who works for the American magical government. Magical creatures from Mr. Scamander’s bag have escaped in New York, and they must be found and collected before any serious damage can be done to the city. The resulting antics are funny, insightful and all around entertaining to watch, with dramatic moments thrown in to boot.

The film, although it has a fun, adventurous and magical plot, definitely has some darker undertones, however, with some references that can be taken as social commentary on things such as acceptance of unfamiliar groups, and how hateful fear can be, relative to many current events today, even though the movie itself takes place in 1920s New York.

Fantastic Beasts does not get off scoff free, though. The movie started out a bit slow for my tastes, and the dialogue in the first part of the movie felt sort of choppy and drawn out, although as the characters became more familiar, the interactions became much more natural. I also did not really enjoy the romance set up in the movie, as it felt a bit forced, and did not really develop naturally and believably. It was the one part of the movie that I felt I was supposed to be emotionally invested in, but was not.

However, the actors did a good job of portraying the characters and their personalities, and considering how much pressure there was on them in order to make these characters new icons of a franchise, much like Harry, Ron and Hermione were, I would say that their performances made me fall in love with the Wizarding World all over again.

Overall, I would say that Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was a movie that was well done, with an interesting storyline, and loveable characters. If you are an old Harry Potter fan on the fence about this movie, I would say give it a go, you might love what you find. If you are someone who is just looking for a great movie, I would say that this movie is one that will leave you filled with magic, and wanting more.