NEW YORK – British author J.K. Rowling has conjured up her Harry Potter magic in the spin-off film Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them.
But some early reviews wondered if it may be too dark for a family audience and whether the story can sustain four more movies.
The Warner Bros film, to be released worldwide on Nov 18, got mixed reviews, with critics in Britain generally proving more enthusiastic than their United States counterparts.
“That entertainment enchanter J.K. Rowling has come storming back to the world of magic in a shower of supernatural sparks and created a glorious fantasy-romance adventure,” wrote Peter Bradshaw in Britain’s Guardian newspaper.
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them takes place 70 years before the first Harry Potter books and features a cast of new characters with magical powers.
Set in 1926, it centres on Newt Scamander, a magizoologist who arrives in New York with a case full of strange creatures that quickly escape.
It marks Rowling’s debut as a screenplay writer and is the first of five movies based on the Scamander character that seek to build on a wizarding franchise that has made US$7 billion (S$9.9 billion) at the global box office.
The Hollywood Reporter’s John DeFore said Fantastic Beasts would appeal both to Potter fans and newcomers, praising its invention and special effects.
But he added that casual audiences “may be less convinced that this spin-off demands the five feature-length instalments Warner and Rowling have planned”.
Variety noted the movie’s themes of intolerance and xenophobia. “Just when you thought the world of Harry Potter couldn’t get any darker, along comes a bleak-as-soot spin-off that makes the earlier series look like kids’ stuff,” wrote Peter DeBruge.
Others were less impressed.
Entertainment Weekly’s Chris Nashawaty called the film “oddly lifeless”.
Several critics found the plot and its multiple characters overstuffed, with The Wrap’s Jason Solomons writing that “despite immaculate design and splashes of wonder, a touch of magic is missing in this Harry Potter prequel”.
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