Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Play trailer 1:57 Poster for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them PG-13 Released Nov 18, 2016 2h 7m Fantasy Adventure Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
74% Tomatometer 345 Reviews 79% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
The year is 1926, and Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) has just completed a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures. Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident, were it not for a No-Maj (American for Muggle) named Jacob, a misplaced magical case, and the escape of some of Newt's fantastic beasts, which could spell trouble for both the wizarding and No-Maj worlds.
Watch on Peacock Stream Now

Where to Watch

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them draws on Harry Potter's rich mythology to deliver a spinoff that dazzles with franchise-building magic all its own.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View All (345) Critics Reviews
Karen Han CutPrintFilm Fantastic Beasts is a charm, excelling when it's allowed to be its own creature and falling short only when it's forced to pay its franchise dues. Rated: 7/10 Dec 8, 2017 Full Review Kristen Lopez Culturess Much of the film's rapid-fire entertainment value and slick filmmaking style do a lot towards covering up the weak narrative excuses. Nov 20, 2017 Full Review Alison Herman The Ringer Rowling imbues Fantastic Beasts from start to finish with a sense of discovery. Aug 11, 2017 Full Review Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review Rowling throws her audience into the fray without developing personalities we grow to love. As a result, Fantastic Beasts feels underwhelming, if diverting for the duration. Rated: 2/4 Apr 9, 2022 Full Review David Gonzalez The Cinematic Reel Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them is an unexpected return to Rowlings wizarding world but with anything, the unexpected surprises are sometimes the best. Rated: 3/4 Feb 14, 2022 Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews ...a predominantly worthless endeavor that seems to serve no purpose other than to lay the groundwork for future installments. Rated: 1.5/4 Jan 18, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (1000+) audience reviews
Boots McGee a fanciful journey, full of imaginative creature design and world building. THIS movie is great. commenting from 2024....they should have stopped here. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/24/24 Full Review Audience Member A fun ride with emotion, and captures most of the magic of the wizarding world. I just didn't find it to be on par with the Harry Potter series mainly due to the atmosphere of Hogwarts lacking, and it being very fantastical, to a point that it felt slightly different from the world I know, but overall as a crafted movie, a story told, and performed, it's pretty good. Eddie Redmayne is incredible. Thank you! Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 12/22/24 Full Review Allen F This is an imaginative and interesting spinoff from the film franchise that is beloved. I thought the story was unnecessary and cheesy. The main character I thought to be lacking in depth. The visuals and creatures themselves were a highlight. Interesting addition that seemed to be unnecessary. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 12/18/24 Full Review Rick- M Just read a one-star review saying the dialogue was bad, and the body language of of the actors was terrible. Hello ?? Yes, Eddie Raymayne's character (and others) makes you uncomfortable, and one might think that he's NOT acting, that this is him in real life -- but it's not. And that's why this movie will be remembered. It's not Harry Potter with it's cute little kids - JKR and David Yates undertake a adult fantasy theme, and say 'the people who inhabit this world are not like you and me - they are dark, complex creatures." You want to see a 1-star series where dialogue, acting, and directing turn out an uncompelling mess ? Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. I'm a Dan Brown fan to the point of reading the books after seeing the first 3 movies -- but The Lost Symbol ? I had to abandon it after 2 or 3 episodes because of the tedium. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/27/24 Full Review cinema f “What would you do if your beasts escaped?” I love the Fantastic Beasts franchise honestly more than the Harry Potter franchise. Mainly because of the creatures, I love the magical creatures (not saying Harry Potter wasn’t good I love that franchise as well). 5/5 stars. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/25/24 Full Review Pedro K Bad writing, full of nonsense dialogs, reactions and shallow personalities, whom you would hardly find in real life. The bad acting also contributes to it, as the main actors look like amateurs, dont know where to look at, their body language is terrible and their face expressions are constantly goofy. It all sums up to conclude that the movie is also badly directed. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 11/10/24 Full Review Read all reviews
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald 36% 53% Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald Watchlist TRAILER for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore 46% 83% Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore Watchlist TRAILER for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 96% 89% Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 Watchlist TRAILER for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 77% 85% Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 Watchlist Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 78% 81% Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis The year is 1926, and Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) has just completed a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures. Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident, were it not for a No-Maj (American for Muggle) named Jacob, a misplaced magical case, and the escape of some of Newt's fantastic beasts, which could spell trouble for both the wizarding and No-Maj worlds.
Director
David Yates
Producer
David Heyman, J.K. Rowling, Steve Kloves, Lionel Wigram
Screenwriter
J.K. Rowling
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co
Heyday Films, Nvizible, Warner Bros. Pictures
Rating
PG-13 (Some Fantasy/Action Violence)
Genre
Fantasy, Adventure
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 18, 2016, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 8, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$234.0M
Runtime
2h 7m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital, Datasat, Dolby Atmos
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
Most Popular at Home Now