Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: reviews

What the critics say average 7.6 from 10 outlets

• 10 The GuardianPeter Bradshaw Fantastic Beasts is a rich, baroque, intricately detailed entertainment with some breathtaking digital fabrications of prewar New York City. This is Steampunk 2.0, taking its inspirations from Terry Gilliam?s Brazil or Howard Hawks?s His Girl Friday but the New York she creates also has the dark, traumatised look of Gotham City. Read
• 8.3 IndiewireEric Kohn J.K. Rowling?s prequel, ?Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them? shows that her universe expands handily. Taking a step back from the pressure to continue the existing storyline, she dips into its past for a smart, engaging prequel that deepens the ?Potter? saga while pushing it in a fresh direction. Read
• 8.0 The TelegraphRobbie Collin A film about a magical zookeeper has turned out to be the most unexpectedly relevant blockbuster of 2016 Read
• 7.5 Rolling StonePeter Travers The real stars here are the beasts, supposedly ugly, weird and dangerous, but paragons of FX creativity in service of genuine ideas. Read
• 7.5 The Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan The plot thickens, along with the emotional tension, which was always the best part of the Potter universe, and not the dazzling special effects. Read
• 7.5 Roger EbertSusan Wloszczyna As with most complicated narratives, it is best to simply sit back at some point and enjoy the ride. Read
• 7.5 USA TodayBrian Truitt Director David Yates? entertaining introduction of awkward hero and magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) is a confident and surprisingly funny adventure that?s more charming than most of the eight 'Harry Potter' films. Read
• 7.0 VarietyPeter Debruge ?Fantastic Beasts? does double-duty as yet another imagination-tickling fantasy adventure and a deeply troubled commentary on tolerance, fear, and bigotry in the world today. Read
• 7.0 The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeFore Eddie Redmayne makes an ideal Newt Scamander, who is endearingly sheepish around humans but gifted with the nifflers, bowtruckles, erumpents and so forth to whom the pic's title refers. Read
• 6.0 EmpireHelen O'Hara Big, bold and teeming with imagination, it is so busy world-building that it occasionally forgets to have fun. But with this heavy lifting done, there?s every reason to hope for an even more magical adventure next time. Read