I have a Harry Potter tattoo. I just thought that should be noted before I write this review. I have a Harry Potter tattoo and a large obsession with the series… Needless to say my hopes were quite high for this movie and I’m happy to say they were not let down! Fantastic Beasts takes place seventy years before the events of Harry Potter and follows Newt Scamander on his trip to the states… You see, Newt has a case (that’s bigger on the inside) of magical creatures that he cares for and releases back into the wild. At this point in the world magical creatures are killed off because of the assumption that they are dangerous… Along the way he stumbles into a no-maj (a lazy U.S. way of saying muggle, which is SO much cooler), played by Dan Fogler, who basically plays the embodiment of every HP fan out there… Much like Harry Potter, this movie starts out fun and light-hearted but turns dark and grim near the end. Collin Farrell plays Graves, a man who is clearly bad from the start but has an amazing twist at the end… This was a fantastic movie, and a standalone great, despite being a spin off of one of the best series ever. I look forward to the massive series this will undoubtedly be.