Commercials have been playing for months and Potterheads everywhere have been anxiously waiting. But now, the wait is over. On Nov. 18, the newest edition to the Harry Potter franchise was released in theaters. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, originally written by J. K. Rowling and directed by David Yates, was number one in the International Box Office opening weekend and raked in over 14 million dollars. The following weekend, it still maintained its spot as one of the top grossing movies.

Arguably, the previous eight Potter movies sparked a cinematic revolution of special effects in the Sci-fi world, making them action packed pieces with lots of incorporated magic. Fantastic Beasts did not fall short in special effects; there were very vivid and realistic effects, especially in the 3D version of the movie. All of the different creatures looked realistic with that famous Harry Potter magic feel to them. Created with such detail, members of the audience verbally reacted to the beasts as they appeared on screen, especially to the cuter looking ones.

The film’s flaw was not with the effects but in the plot development. It started right away with the (lovely) Eddie Redmayne playing the main character, the quirky and very British Newt Scamander who travels to America for research and finds himself in some rather odd situations. The reason why this plot seemed goofy was that it jumped all over the place. One second, they were chasing his monsters, and that seemed to be the intended main plot, but then they were chasing a dark entity, an Obscurus, and then Johnny Depp came out of nowhere. So, that was a little bit distracting. It would be difficult to even offer a simple plot summary without either going into too much detail or spoiling the ending. In a one sentence summative, this movie is about fantastic beasts and North American magic with a dash of romance.

Otherwise, the cast was star-studded; accompanying Redmayne were Katherine Waterston and Colin Farrell as two of the other main characters. Waterston and Redmayne were the two leads with obvious character chemistry throughout their comical and dramatic scenes. Being set in 1926, the film’s set and costumes were accurately reflective of the era (bucket hats and all).

Recently, the National English Honor Society took a field trip to see the movie at Hollywood Boulevard. However, the opinions on the show were very mixed; they either loved it or hated it. Senior Julia Shoudis attended the event and described the movie as “Nostalgic. [It] reminded me [of] how much I love Harry Potter,” said Shoudis. For people with the same view as Shoudis, this new series is expected to have four more movies coming out within the next couple of years.

While it shouldn’t be done, it is so easy to compare this film to its eight predecessors because those were so impactful and highly grossing. However, this new part of the franchise hasn’t fallen short yet and there is already optimism about the remaining films that haven’t even been created. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is an entertaining movie for all moviegoers.

Having bits of fantasy, comedy, and romance, this movie has a lot to offer. Plus, it has a Niffler which has to be the cutest beast, besides Eddie Redmayne, from this magical movie.