In the latest installment of author J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world comes the tale of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

The story follows an ex-Hogwarts wizard by the name of Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) and serves as a sort of prequel to Rowling’s world renowned series Harry Potter.

Newt was the one to write the book ‘Fantastic Beasts’, which Harry was required to read for his Magical Creature studies at Hogwarts. And from the first few minutes of the movie, I was infinitely certain I prefer Newt as a protagonist to Harry.

The story takes place in America in old school New York, unlike the Harry Potter series taking place in the U.K.

Despite the change of location, the story still managed to entrance me with other methods of wizard devices and buildings famous in Rowling’s original series.

While I preferred the London setting, the story taking place in America lets the fans see a whole other side to the wizarding world.

The movie started very slowly, then suddenly dumped a lot of information on the audience. It throws all the facts of the magic side of reality at the watcher and expects them to understand it all.

If I hadn’t been a big fan of the Harry Potter series, I would have been extremely confused at the complex society wizards developed and all the minuscule ways it melded with ‘normal’ society.

I think that, as a fan who knew the world from Rowling’s previous series, the way she tied up her wizarding world with new characters, plot, and mannerisms appropriate to the older setting was executed pretty well.

The movie follows Newt, an avid fan of all things mythical creatures, on his voyage.

Newt was by far my favorite character of this movie from his easy on the eyes appearance, to his adorable fascination for his creatures.

Comparing him to Rowling’s original series I found him far more likable than the angsty and temperamental Harry. I can say honestly I would not like this movie near as much as I did if it wasn’t for Newt.

Upon his arrival to America, Newt doesn’t quite get the chance to adjust to his new surroundings before unfortunate circumstances lead to his mystical beasts being set free.

At the same time he arrives though, a mysterious force had been raging attacks on the city, leading to destruction and confusion among the people.

Newt is joined by a No-Maj, formerly referred to as a Muggle or non-magic human, Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler), a struggling man trying to set up a bakery. Jacob manages to get twisted up in Newt’s crazy antics and the two men become a team.

Throughout the movie, Jacob served as an extremely relatable character with his confusion to all magic things and comical fear towards Newt’s seemingly more intimidating beasts.

I found myself really enjoying the addition of a non-wizard to the story and the way it wrapped up all the supernatural elements to everyday things of reality.

Along their journey to reunite the creatures, more and more attacks threaten the city leaving the watcher in suspense to what was really causing all the mayhem.

The escaped wizard Grindelwald  mentioned at the start of the movie? One of Newt’s fantastic beasts? Or one of the women of an anti-witch orphanage protesting in New York?

All the multiple scenarios of this movie lead up to a shocking conclusion that things were not as they had seemed.

While the movie was PG-13, there were very dark themes I was not expecting in the film.

Along with seeing the movie, I found on my ticket that children under six were not to be permitted into the movie.

This was understandable though as there were instances of child abuse and torturous methods that made me squirm uncomfortably in my seat.

The whole movie gave off these dark undertones I had not been expecting to see and left me wanting to almost look away from some more of the intense scenes.

I give this movie a 3.5 out of 5 stars. Overall, I loved to once again witness the magic of J.K. Rowling’s work. I can’t say I loved much of the movie aside from Newt, who is by far one of my favorite characters among movies in genera.

It was an enjoyable experience that brought me as a huge Rowling fan back to the magic she’s made me fall in love with.