Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them

Newt Kid On The Block.

- Jayne Nelson

While researching his role as “magizoologist” Newt Scamander, Eddie Redmayne met with real-life zoologists, experts and trackers so he could learn to adopt the stances they use when stalking animals – it’s all in the way you hold your feet, apparently. This dedication is clear to see in his performance in Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, but there’s something else Redmayne should have been focusing on: his diction.

You don’t have to be hard of hearing to find Newt difficult to decipher. Hell, even with the sound turned up, he’s such a mumbly nightmare the film might as well be a BBC drama... It’s a damn shame, because while we understand that Newt is supposed to be shy, it’s tough enough to understand words like “Erumpent”, “Occamy” and “Demiguise” without them being delivered to the floor and not your ears.

Still, that’s what subtitles are for, we suppose. And there’s no denying that, murmurings aside, Fantastic Beasts is great fun. But how could it not be? The