It explores the coming together of his to-be-written book which, later, makes him a famous magi-zoologist.
However, the writing of this book isn't the focus of the story. Newt has come to New York to find a rare creature for his suitcase - a suitcase which holds a huge sanctuary for endangered species and injured animals that Newt has saved and learned about in his travels.
His simple plan to retrieve one creature soon spirals out of control and his creatures manage to find their way out of his suitcase...in a society where wizards and muggles are more divided than ever.
The plot is set up nicely, with promise of a hilarious adventure, and the great Eddie Redmayne playing our main character.
However, I felt that the film didn't quite live up to the hype. There comes a time when a successful franchise just needs to stop - I think the world of Harry Potter has already gone on too long (don't get me wrong - I am a big HP fan).
There are two main characters in the film that I think they could have done without (the mind-reading flapper girl, and the baker); they're not very fleshed out characters. There are also quite a lot of plot holes - how is our detective woman an auror in the American ministry of magic when she's such a bumbling mess all the time? There are wizards and witches who can read minds (without having studied occlumency)? There are also a few issues with the rules set out in the wizarding world - eg wand law (but I won't go into that now as it's super-nerd stuff).
I don't understand why they had to bring in Johnny Depp right at the very end - Colin Farrell was doing an excellent job at being the mysterious bad guy - I'm not sure Johnny Depp will fit the part - though we'll just have to wait and see.
I have to say, I usually think Ezra Miller is good (he was brilliant in Perks of Being a Wallflower) but this part was not done well. Maybe it was his script? The directing? The part was a difficult one - a teenage boy (called Credence) with strong magical powers who had been forced to keep them hidden. His story seems to derail the plot a bit - a plot that promised to be about an adventure with fantastic beats, ending in a story of a tantruming teenager and an evil dark wizard...
Overall, the film was a fun adventure in a simple way (if you ignore the annoying flapper-girl and baker-to-be). Notice how I can hardly remember anyone's names? Yeah - they weren't very memorable...
If I wasn't such a big HP fan, I wouldn't buy the DVD. I am a Harry Potter fan so...I'll get it at some point - maybe next Christmas. And of course I'll be going to see the next film in the series, mostly out of intrigue.
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