Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them

Picture House, Keighley, and Plaza, Skipton

IT seems like a lifetime ago a ridiculously young Daniel Radcliffe burst onto the silver screen in the first of the Harry Potter movies.

Like many fans, I still have a big soft spot for the film, as like the young Harry himself, we were introduced to a world that seemed more innocent, less threatening.

As the franchise developed, so the subsequent movies – reflecting the storyline – grew increasingly dark in tone.

Having purposely tried to avoid as much pre-coverage of JK Rowling's latest wizarding tale, Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, I was holding out hope, perhaps a little naively, for a return to simpler times with the prequel to the Potter series.

How wrong could I be?! Fantastic Beasts has equally dark undertones, with the sinister Grindelwald replacing Voldermort as the baddie in a tale of wizarding woe. But the movie is all the better for it, adding to the suspense and drama round every corner.

The year is 1926, and Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) has just completed a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures. Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident, were it not for a No-Maj (American for Muggle) named Jacob, a misplaced magical case, and the escape of some of Newt's fantastic beasts, which could spell trouble for both the wizarding and No-Maj worlds.

This is no stroll down Diagon Alley, but it is still a wonderful, awe-inspiring journey into a world of magical mayhem.

Richard Parker