Written by J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter book series, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the spiritual prequel to the hugely popular Harry Potter movie series but stands on its own as a technically marvelous cinematic experience about magic. It stars the Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander, a British wizard who arrives in New York City in 1926 on his quest to discover and document the otherworldly magical creatures that live hidden in the human world. During a time when the so-called Magical Congress of the United States is attempting to neutralize threats from the wizardry world, Newt unwittingly befriends a desperate potential bakery owner named Jacob, a regular human without powers, known as a No-Maj. Jacob, rather comically, becomes Newt’s accomplice in trying to evade arrest from the powerful Magical Congress while becoming ensnared in a hunt for a malevolent force known as an Obscurus potentially destructive to all of mankind. Eventually, they also team up with a young woman trying to move up in the rankings at the Magical Congress and her beautiful young sister who can read minds. The special effects enhanced by CGI were beautifully crafted and help to create a highly imaginative world in which truly fantastical beasts look and feel real. The film was even more dazzling with its attention to detail and setting in the 1920’s, an era in American history marked by remarkable engineering achievements and a feeling of exuberance despite the Prohibition. The movie has one major drawback: it is sometimes overly complicated and uses lingo and concepts that may not be readily understood by nonreaders of the Harry Potter universe. Overall, it is an entertaining film full of technical wizardry and ripe with a vast array of characters and details that can be readily explored in future installments. It is an experience that will surely delight all the millions of Harry Potter fans in addition to casual viewers of fantasy.

Based on the Disney animated movie of the same name released in 1977, Pete’s Dragon follows in the recent succession of Disney remaking classic animated movies into well-crafted live action films. The plot revolves around Pete who loses his parents in a car accident and is left alone in the forested wilderness where he survives with the help of a friendly dragon. The film takes place six years after the opening scene when Pete and eventually the dragon named Elliot are discovered by a crew of lumberjacks and a local park ranger played by Bryce Howard Dallas. Pete, portrayed by the terrific young actor Oakes Fegley, must figure out a way to live in civilization and away from the only companion that he has ever really known, a large furry green dragon that everyone believes is a figment of his imagination. The only true believer is the scruffy old outdoorsman played by Robert Redford who has been claiming for years that he saw a dragon in the woods. When Elliot is finally discovered, many of the lumberjacks and residents of the nearby Pacific Northwest town of Millhaven overreact and try to hunt him down as a threat. At the heart of the film is a charming and inspirational tale of overcoming personal tragedy and finding familial bonds with the most likely of people and, in this particular case, creatures. The film is not only a family story, but it is a particularly well-done movie marked by beautiful cinematography, an atmospheric soundtrack, and a great cast. The whole experience is tinged with nostalgia harking back to the original film and other family-friendly classics. In addition, the film has an undercurrent relevant to contemporary issues of environmentalism. It can be seen as an allegory for preserving nature as it is: the conflict between the timber industry and park ranger service, as well as whether to allow Elliot to live in his native wild habitat or be held in captivity like a zoo animal. Overall, I thought the movie was better than the original animated version due to its creative blending of wholesome adventure, magical whimsy, endearing charm, and important lessons about family and nature.

Adapted from Roald Dahl’s children book of the same name written in 1982, The BFG is a cute family-friendly film about an orphan girl and a gentle giant. The film reunites director Steven Spielberg and Academy Award winning actor Mark Rylance who were both involved in 2015’s Bridge of Spies. Rylance plays the CGI-enhanced titular character BFG, which stands for big friendly giant. The movie begins at a London orphanage where Sophie is lonely and often wanders the hallways in the middle of the night. This one particular night she hears something stirring outside the window and is amazed to discover a literal giant roaming the streets. She is taken by him back to the magical Giant Land and his cave where he lives. Eventually, they develop a close friendship and Sophie helps him, who she affectionately calls BFG, to fight off nine bullying giants. With such whimsical names as Fleshlumpeater and Gizzardgulper, BFG also must protect Sophie from these giants who want her for food since they are human “bean” eaters. One of my favorite parts of the film is the humorous language spoken by BFG, a quaint combination of broken English and gibberish with such made-up words as crockadowndillies and scrumdiddlyumptious. Visually, the movie is marvelously well done: CGI was effective in creating a realistic illusion of giants while still retaining the actors’ recognizable facial features. By using live action with elements of CGI, the film’s ability to tell a uniquely fantastical story was greatly enhanced. The juxtaposition of an actual child actor playing Sophie with the realistically outsized BFG underscores the story’s lesson about friendship. People of all shapes and sizes and from all backgrounds who may normally be enemies can in fact develop close relationships. Quite simply, not all giants should be judged as scary human-eating creatures; BFG is the complete opposite of the sinister perception of a monster. Furthermore, it is about the power of dreams. BFG is a dreamcatcher who sneaks into the human-inhabited cities to capture children’s dreams and also has the power to give children either good or bad dreams. Beyond fostering simple dreams while sleeping, he is able to fulfill Sophie’s dream of leaving the orphanage and having a semblance of a family with BFG. Overall, I found the movie to be an adorable film that can be enjoyed by all in a family. Its fantasy style and hopeful storytelling reminded me of Martin Scorsese’s 2011 Hugo and the many iterations of Peter Pan.