How Family-Friendly Is Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them?

Rating: PG-13, for some fantasy action violence.

If you’ve been longing for J.K. Rowling’s world of wizards and magic, this is Harry Potter– adjacent and may satisfy you temporarily. Rowling herself wrote the script – and David Yates, who directed the last four Potter movies, is at the helm – for this spin-off inspired by one of the books that’s assigned reading for Harry and his friends at Hogwarts. Eddie Redmayne stars as Newt Scamander, a shy wizard who’s an expert in the field of magical beasts. He travels to New York in the mid-1920s to find a particular creature, but while he’s there, the other odd animals in his suitcase escape. While trying to track them down, he gets caught in a conflict between the wizards living secretly in New York and the Muggles (or No-Majs, as they’re known in the United States) hunting them down. Younger viewers will delight in the creative and colorful creatures’ amusing and often destructive antics. It takes place decades before the Harry Potter series, but features many recognizable details: wands, spells and references to various characters. But it’s also pretty dark, with scenes of children being abused by their adoptive, witch-hunting mother (Samantha Morton). An air of totalitarian fear hangs over everything. And a mysterious, frightening force wreaks havoc throughout the city: a dark gust of wind that can destroy an entire building in one swoop and leaves its victims battered with elaborate marks. That was the only element that disturbed my 7-year-old son, who’s an enthusiastic and knowledgeable Potter fan. Otherwise, I’d say this is OK for kids around 8 and older.

Rating: PG, for mild thematic elements.

The whole family will love watching this sequel to the essential 2003 Pixar film, Finding Nemo. This time, the forgetful fish Dory (voiced once again by Ellen DeGeneres) swims across the Pacific Ocean to seek the parents she recently remembered she had. Along the way, she gets help from various sea creatures including old friends Marlin (Albert Brooks) and Nemo (Hayden Rolence), a reluctant octopus (Ed O’Neill) and a nearsighted whale shark (Kaitlin Olsen). It’s funny and lively and visually wondrous, as we’ve come to expect from Pixar, with colors and details that are dazzlingly rich and vibrant. But there are ideas and moments here that might be scary for very young viewers, including flashbacks to Dory being separated from her parents when she was very young and feeling lost and alone within the massive ocean as she tries to reconnect with them. Parents, meanwhile, might get choked up at the prospect of being on the other side of that situation – and there’s one shot toward the end that’s just wrenching in its beauty. Dory and her friends are frequently in danger, but on the upside, they always find a way to help each other. And parents of children with disabilities or learning difficulties surely will find comfort in the film’s thoughtful treatment of Dory’s short-term memory loss.