As the “Harry Potter” series was over after eight films, many fans fell into a hole: all the books had been read, all the films had been watched. But the world around Hogwarts, Harry, Dumbledore and the good and bad sides of magic had grown so dear to half the world that supplies were longed for – and with the “Fantastic Beasts” series it came.
It tells a prelude to “Harry Potter“, the films are set in the 1920s and 30s. The big bad wizard is called Grindelwald instead of Voldemort, he was already mentioned in the “Harry Potter”-stories – because he and Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) have a turbulent past with friendship and enmity.
In the first part of the series “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them“ – on September 18, 2022 at 8.15 p.m. on Sat.1 or of course also available on Blu-ray, DVD or as VoD – but it’s not so much about Dumbledore and Grindelwald. Because here is a new character in focus: Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), who is known as the author of school books from “Harry Potter“, and who, as a magizoologist, deals with the eponymous fantastic beasts – which he sometimes prefers to humans.
›› “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” on Amazon*
With “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” director Davis Yates has succeeded in making a strong start to the prequel series that makes you want more. The story is darker than “Harry Potter’, which then really shines through, especially in the second part – which, by the way, you can see on free TV in a week’s time: “Fantastic Beasts 2: The Crimes of Grindelwald” runs on September 25, 2022 at 8:15 p.m. on Sat.1.
For those unfamiliar with the “Beasts” franchise, here’s a quick synopsis of Part 1: In 1926, British magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) travels to New York, and as always, he has his magical trunk full of fantastical beasts with him. When some of the creatures escape after encountering the muggle Jacob (Dan Fogler), chaos ensues.
While Newt is rushing through New York to collect his pets, other strange things are happening in the city: a mysterious force destroys entire streets, an assassination attempt is carried out, and the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA) is at its highest alert. Without wanting to, Newt becomes involved in the dangerous processes…
What in the one with many “Harry Potter“The first part of the series, which was designed for five films, began so promisingly with allusions, and part 2 continued very solidly – DashFUN gave both films 3.5 out of a possible 5 stars. But on the one hand the viewer’s interest in part 2 has already waned noticeably, on the other hand the story runs out of breath a bit, so that it’s not quite clear how it should extend over five films. For the third part, “Fantastic Beasts 3: Dumbledore’s Secrets”, we only gave 3 stars.
It is unclear how the series, in which Johnny Depp was replaced by Mads Mikkelsen in his role as Gellert Grindelwald, will continue. There is no release date for “Fantastic Beasts 4” yet.
Finally, for all those who are curious, we will reveal the mega twist mentioned in the headline. So for everyone who doesn’t know him yet and doesn’t want to know him beforehand: Spoiler alert!
Johnny Depp as Gellert Grindelwald can already be seen in part 1, although he was actually only supposed to join the cast for part 2. In the final fight, it turns out that the supposed MACUSA employee Percival Graves (Colin Farrell) is actually Grindelwald, who has used a shapeshifting spell.
*The link to the Amazon offer is a so-called affiliate link. If you make a purchase through this link, we will receive a commission.
For the TV broadcast of “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” we have updated and republished an already published article.
