A few months ago, we received a mysterious announcement trailer for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I say mysterious because we did not really get to see much. A scene would come up, then fade to black, a bit of text would appear, and the cycle would repeat for a little over a minute. I thought it was a fine announcement trailer as it hinted a bit at the tone and got the word out that this movie was being made. But now we have an official teaser, hopefully with some meat to it.
The trailer opens with an aerial shot of the inside of a train station, with our main character, Newt Scamander, sitting down with his briefcase. We get a bit of a peek as to what is inside the case as pictured above. We also see a beautiful shot of New York City. The trailer gives a bit of background to Scamandar, as we find out that he was expelled from Hogwarts for endangering lives. But one teacher was apparently against his expulsion; Albus Dumbledore. This is a nice treat for fans as it helps to ground the film in the same reality as the Harry Potter franchise without forcing anything, as Dumbledore was definitely around during that time.
We then get a pretty cool moment that shows us how the briefcase got past security. Scamandar twists the lock on the case so that it is "muggle worthy," so that when the guard opens it, it appears normal. This is a nice hint of magic to remind us of the universe, especially with the inclusion of the word "muggle" and it is a nice addition to the trailer. This is followed by a few quick shots. We see a group of men in trench coats running through the station, presumably after Scamandar. We see a little more magic with the famous motion newspaper, a lit-up wand, and a hidden pathway covered by bricks. These are followed by a few grand shots of New York.
Next, we get this shot of an important man that seems to want to change America's future. Who this Shaw is and what his intentions are are well beyond me. I did not think an aspect like this would be included in this film, as I assumed it would remain strictly in the magical realm with magic-wielding characters. Perhaps this actually is a wizard, or even an entire meeting of wizards and witches. The trailer does not linger here long. For the moment all we can do is speculate.
We see something that I find rather interesting in the next scene. We see Dan Fogler's character appear surprised at the use of magic, as several plates fly past his head and towards the table. This leads me to believe that he is a muggle that somehow got mixed up with Scamandar. I am very interested to see what they do with his character. After that, we get a few character shots, and it is here where a reprise of the Harry Potter theme plays, and it sounds glorious. In fact, the music throughout the entire trailer is wonderful.
The trailer then picks up the pace by throwing many short moments in rapid succession. We see a bit of magic, a little more of our characters, and not one, but two of the beasts that will be featured. We see a niffler that has gotten its hands on someone's purse, and a mysterious creature known as the swooping evil. It resembles both a dragon and a bird. It appears to materialize out of Scamandar's hand when he "tosses it." There is not much to say about these creatures since we only get brief glimpses of them.
We then see a small bit of what looks to be an awesome underground chase, with Scamandar running from the men in trench coats. After we are treated to the awesome shot above, we see Scamandar jump off a building before disappearing, presumably teleporting somewhere else. It is a well constructed shot, with the camera tracking behind him and old New York City as the backdrop. Next, we hear Colin Farrell's character speak, saying "No human can do what this thing is capable of." This serves to set up the stakes of the movie. I find this a little unnecessary as we know the beasts should present a danger, but if he is including wizards and witches with the "humans" he mentioned, then that is a different story. If the beast(s) that get(s) released can do things a magic-user cannot, then we truly have a credible threat.
For our final scene, we get a pretty cool moment. Scamandar gets out of bed, places his briefcase on the floor, and proceeds to enter it as he would walking down a staircase. He then whistles and motions for Kowalski to follow him, to which he replies with a look of fear. I will say that he seems to be looking a bit too far to his right to be looking at the case, so it would not surprise me if the film is not cut together the same way. However, the visual effect of having Scamandar walk into the case is brilliantly done. It is such a wonderful moment that showcases that the true magic of the Harry Potter universe lies in the quaint magic, not so much with the bombastic and explosive spells.
So those are my thoughts on the new Fantastic Beasts trailers. There is not really much to speculate on because most of the footage is very short. The trailer is very blink-and-you-will-miss-it, but this is still a very good trailer. It sets the stage well, presenting the plot without giving away too much. The tone is built up exceptionally and it captures a bit of the magic of the Harry Potter franchise. Although, it feels very separate from those movies, as it should, being set 70 years prior to those events. While I do not believe this is a jaw-dropping trailer, there are plenty of great moments within it, and I cannot wait to see this picture once it is released.
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