With the release of FBAWTFT, Hufflepuffs are getting a lot of attention, and rightly so. Despite being a proud Gryffindor myself, I have always considered Hufflepuff's to be an amazing and diverse house. After all, every single one stayed at the battle of Hogwarts AND have been shown to be the most loyal and friendly house, not just to their peers, but also to their "rival" houses.
~ Spoilers ahead ~
Fantastic beasts and where to find them features the Hufflepuff Newt Scamander in New York 1926. With him he brings a very special suitcase filled with magical beasts and creatures. There is a prominent Muggle by the name of Jacob who gets pulled into the whirlwind of chaos that arises once the suitcase is opened. The released creatures are not the problem however. In the series there is a magic called an obscurial; this is where a young witch or wizard represses their magic completely until the magic reaches a point where it explodes violently out of the child, usually killing them. Reveal Credence Barebone, that poor boy, adopted into an abusive home of magic hating muggles, beaten and repressed, he develops an obscurus.
The creatures themselves were amazing, visually and despite being computer generated, each one had its own unique personality, I think the animators for this film did an AMAZING job and deserve all the recognition. One of my favourite things they did was produce the obscurus itself. It was fascinating to watch the magic rip out of Credence and lash out at those who "threatened" him (be it he was just scared, angry or just trying to get away), it was flawless how they managed to include Credence himself inside the obscurus in what was obviously a very traumatic experience for him. He deserved a better ending.
Now to talk about the cinnamon roll himself: Newt Scamander. EDDIE FREAKING REDMAYNE did a fantastic job portraying this character, gentle and ultimately kind. My friends and I have dubbed Newt the "Steve Irwin of the Wizarding World". The way he genuinely cares for his creatures was beautiful to witness and calling himself "mummy" to some occamy's almost made me cry. The majority of the audience has agreed that Newt shows clear signs of Autism, at first this did not occur to me. I merely thought that Newt behaves like this to beings who don't quite trust or understand him; he is perfectly capable to look his creatures in the eye despite some being potentially dangerous to the outside world. Overall, Newt Scamander is an incredibly interesting character and is probably one of the most genuinely caring characters I've ever had the fortune to witness.
Now, to vaguely sum up, even though I could probably keep writing but then this post might get a bit long... The movie itself was entirely new, new content for the wizarding world, new characters and references to ones we know. However, this wasn't some action packed, or intense mystery type of film; this film made me feel ultimately nostalgic. Despite being a completely new story (based off a textbook no less), the way it was produced felt wonderful, almost like coming home. Which I suppose is the point, I grew up with the wizarding world and Harry Potter, and while this film had a distinct difference of tone, the overall theme and Newt particularly made me smile and genuinely feel happy.
9.5/10 - Taking off half a point cause Johnny Depp was so out of place in that film. Seriously.
Catch you later! xox
Taz
