--- title: "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them" critics_score: 66 critics_reviews: 24 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016): what the critics said Critics' score 66 from 24 reviews: 16 positive, 4 mixed, 4 negative. Most critics like it, and the praise lands in the same places. The beasts come first: the Niffler is singled out repeatedly, and the creature work is credited with most of the film’s charm. The 1920s New York setting, MACUSA and the inside of Newt’s briefcase are admired as immersive world-building. Eddie Redmayne’s diffident Newt is well liked, as are Dan Fogler and Alison Sudol in the central quartet. Several reviews welcome the allegory about fear and intolerance as timely. The reservations cluster on the story. Even admirers call it busy and overstuffed, slow to start, with too many plot threads and a sense that it is laying foundations for sequels rather than standing alone. Characters are the other complaint: thin, and Newt himself generic to some. The spread is wide, from full marks at Radio Times and NME to dismissals at Sight and Sound, Slant and the Los Angeles Times, which finds it proficient but uninspired. ## Radio Times Rating ★★★★★. 18 November 2016. The critic praises it as a spellbinding, monsterific marathon full of wonder, wit, and a strong foundation for the franchise, highlighting the CGI beasts and imaginative details. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them-review-a-spellbinding-monsterific-marathon/) ## Evening Standard — Melanie McDonagh Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 18 November 2016. The critic praises the film's design, comedy, story and morality tale, highlighting Eddie Redmayne's performance as Newt and the fun with the beasts. The world of Harry Potter feels just right without Harry. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them-film-review-a3399211.html) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 13 November 2016. The critic finds this a wonderfully enjoyable adventure and early Christmas treat from the Potter universe, with a rich, baroque world and strong performances especially from Eddie Redmayne as the diffident Newt Scamander. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/nov/13/fantastic-beasts-review-jk-rowling-eddie-redmayne-harry-potter) ## The i Paper — Matthew Turner Rating ★★★★. 15 November 2016. The critic praises the immersive script, inventive world, strong performances especially Redmayne, Sudol and Fogler, and the timely allegory. Calls it enormously entertaining with great characters and impressive effects. [Read the review](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them-review-31549) ## The Telegraph Rating 4/5. 13 November 2016. The film is praised as a spectacular feat of world-building that turns out to be the most unexpectedly relevant blockbuster of 2016, with its immersive 1920s New York setting and magical elements. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them-review-jk-rowlings-spect/) ## Empire — Helen O'Hara Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 17 November 2016. The critic credits Rowling's invention and the glorious beasts but notes structural problems with the creatures as a sideshow and excessive action sequences. It succeeds at world-building with visual panache but is busy, leaving hope for stronger sequels. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/fantastic-beasts-review/) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 13 November 2016. The critic calls it a solid extension of the franchise that starts slowly but delivers spectacle and emotion in the darker parts, with strong craft but some placeholder feel. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them-review/5111269.article) ## The Hollywood Reporter — THR Staff Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 12 November 2016. The film is far from perfect but action-packed and splendid-looking, with strong invention in its effects and world-building that invites viewers in effectively. It is less successful with its character-bonding elements and backstory, which sometimes feel checklist-like. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/fantastic-beasts-find-review-946770/) ## The New Yorker Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). The movie marks a welcome change from the cloistered settings of the Potter franchise and offers more opportunity for the supernatural to knock against the humdrum. The subway can be scarier than a castle. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them) ## Total Film Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 13 November 2016. The critic says it doesn’t quite enchant like the best Potter movies but there are enough thrills and genuine chills to satisfy. It is an exceedingly solid franchise-opener that builds a new world with bridges to the Potterverse. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them-review/) ## Variety — Peter Debruge Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 12 November 2016. The film does double-duty as an imagination-tickling fantasy adventure and a deeply troubled commentary on tolerance, fear, and bigotry. It amplifies both the strengths and weaknesses of Rowling’s storytelling approach while establishing a foundation for future installments. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2016/film/reviews/fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them-review-harry-potter-1201916885/) ## The New York Times — Manohla Dargis Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 17 November 2016. The film opens a new subdivision in the wizarding world in 1926 New York, where dark forces cut swaths of destruction. It features whimsically entertaining creatures but adults that are less engaging and a protagonist who feels fundamentally generic. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/18/movies/fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them-review-eddie-redmayne-j-k-rowling.html) ## Little White Lies — Elena Lazic Rating 3/2/2. 17 November 2016. The critic sees it as overlong with two-dimensional characters and lacking genuine magic or wonder, a disappointment compared to the original Harry Potter films. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them) ## Los Angeles Times — Justin Chang Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 17 November 2016. It is a lively, fast-paced adventure that balances high-spirited whimsy and darkly brooding atmosphere. Yet it is a busy, proficient, uninspired movie soliciting brand loyalty more than wonderment. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-fantastic-beasts-review-20161114-story.html) ## Sight and Sound — Kim Newman Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 18 November 2016. The critic finds it a fiddly, ambitious but awkward start to the prequels, spectacular yet with grating characters and lacking narrative drive from the source book. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/fantastic-beasts-where-find-them-review-fiddly-start-jk-rowlings-wizarding-prequels) ## Slant Magazine — Eric Henderson Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 18 November 2016. The film exists resolutely outside of salience and doggedly within the comfort of escapism, too timid to serve as a respectable time-killer. Director David Yates is incapable of mining dramatic ironies or finessing nuance from the material. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them/) ## NME — Larry Bartleet Rating 5/5. 14 November 2016. The film combines enthralling visuals with surprising emotional heft and is more enchanting to the inner kid than the Potter films in some ways. It singles out the buoyant central quartet of characters and the wonderful life given to the creatures, especially the Niffler. [Read the review](https://www.nme.com/reviews/fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them-review-1854017) ## Consequence Rating B+. 15 November 2016. The critic praises the film's delightful creatures and visual storytelling as a successful adaptation of a textbook into an adventure that balances fantasy with real-world darkness. They single out the beasts for their whimsical charm and the way they drive the story's joy amid darker themes. [Read the review](https://consequence.net/2016/11/film-review-fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them/) ## Digital Spy — Rosie Fletcher Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 18 November 2016. It is a success that is thrilling, stunning, warm and witty, a welcome return to the intricately drawn universe. The critic singles out JK Rowling’s screenplay for deftly mixing child-friendly slapstick with relevant politics and the gorgeous visuals of MACUSA and Newt’s briefcase. [Read the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a814117/fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them-review/) ## Den of Geek — David Crow Rating 3.5 out of 5. 13 November 2016. The film is an ambitious and entertaining extension of the wizarding world that succeeds in bewitching audiences despite some stumbles and an overabundance of plot threads. It singles out the charming central quartet, especially Dan Fogler’s Jacob and Alison Sudol’s Queenie, along with the imaginative world-building inside Newt’s briefcase. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them-review/) ## The Ringer — Alison Herman Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 22 November 2016. The critic sees it as a fine movie and incredible blueprint for expanding the Potterverse, praising its sense of discovery and immersive world-building through CGI and lore details. They note flaws in plotting and underdeveloped elements but highlight the joy of exploring new aspects of the wizarding world. [Read the review](https://www.theringer.com/2016/11/22/movies/fantastic-beasts-is-a-fine-movie-and-an-incredible-blueprint-5caaca24135d) ## HeyUGuys — Stefan Pape Rating 3/5. 14 November 2016. The film is engaging with mightily impressive visual effects and some breathtaking, immersive set-pieces, but it lacks the sense of adventure, a tangible antagonist, and enough comedic light relief found in the Harry Potter films. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them-review/) ## The Wrap — Jason Solomons Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 16 November 2016. The critic finds the film visually impressive with detailed sets and inventive creatures but criticizes its lack of cohesion, franchise predictability, and missing emotional depth or wit compared to the Harry Potter films. He praises the design and the central performance but notes it feels overstuffed and not quite balanced. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/fantastic-beasts-review-jk-rowling-reveals-shes-creature-habit/) ## Polygon — charles-bramesco Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 16 November 2016. The review finds the film a marvelous theme park with dense world-building and spectacle but criticizes it as an adequate film lacking narrative depth, nuanced characters, and meaningful ideas, with Rowling's script failing to match the visual thrills. [Read the review](https://www.polygon.com/2016/11/16/13656650/fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them-review/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them.md