This is a movie that was almost dismissed ahead of time due to the fact that many believed it to be too close to Twilight. What?? A story about an awkward teenager who falls in love with another even more awkward teenager who turns out to be a supernatural being? AND it's revealed that being together could prove fatal for the both of them, so they're constantly fighting supernatural forces to preserve their love? How could that POSSIBLY be compared to Twilight??? Here's my review of Beautiful Creatures.
Ethan Wate (Alden Ehrenreich) is an average jock in the small deep South town of Gatlin. One day, a new girl enrolls in his school: Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert), a strange young lady from a bizarre outcast family who are rumored to have other-worldly capabilities. Ethan starts to fall for Lena after giving her a ride home, and the two develop a bond. It's soon revealed to Ethan that Lena and her family are "casters"(known to us common folk as witches), and that Lena is reaching a critical point in her life where she will either be claimed as a light or dark caster, depending on her true nature. The couple find out that Lena loving Ethan puts her in grave danger of losing control of her emotions and, thus, going dark, something her dark mother Sarafine (Emma Thompson) is hoping for, and her light uncle Macon (Jeremy Irons) is trying everything in his power to prevent. So, the battle is on to ensure that Lena is claimed by the right side, while a simultaneous fight is being held by Lena and Ethan to stay together.
Well, I'm just gonna get right to it: this is the first big surprise of the year for me, in the best possible way. I enjoyed this movie quite a bit! I'm serious. Everything about this movie was enjoyable. First off, the romance was actually believable...and more than just believable. Human. Real. In a teenager's fantasy movie, I found one of the most realistic romances I've seen in film in a number of years. Ethan and Lena may have supernatural issues to deal with, but the way they deal with it is very real. They argue, they yell, but not in the typical romantic movie style in which argument=break-up. They have their fight, but then they calm down, hug each other, and tell each other it'll be okay. Guess what, Hollywood? THAT. IS FREAKING. REAL. More movie romances like that, please!!
The acting was solid across the board, with a special highlight being Jeremy Irons. Irons is a complete badass throughout this thing, and steals every single scene. He was thoroughly enjoyable. The two leads, as I mentioned, are very believable teenagers in love. Emma Thompson as the villain, while hamming it up just a bit, was still great. The writing was actually fairly compelling, and the story was done really well, to the point that, towards the end, when non-specific spoiler-free bad stuff happens to the characters, you genuinely feel bad for them. Ethan and Lena's connection was so strong, due to both great writing and awesome on-screen chemistry.
If there are any problems with this movie, they come with the end. Even though I just mentioned compelling things being involved with the end, the final battle scene as a whole is dragged out just a bit too long. Without spoiling anything, let's just say the situation they present could've been dealt with in half the time and still would have been worth it. It wouldn't have hurt the movie at all to shorten it. But, that's just a minor gripe and really the only one I have. Everything else is either great or, at the very least, passable.
The question that comes to my mind now is, which one is the better supernatural romance: this or Warm Bodies? It's really two completely different experiences. Warm Bodies was goofy and charming, and, while Beautiful Creatures certainly had its charm, it had a much darker tone and took itself a lot more seriously. It's tough to compare the two, because they really are two completely different movies. What do they have in common? Neither of them even come CLOSE to being justifiably compared to Twilight. Beautiful Creatures was fun, intense, interesting, and it kept my attention fully the whole way through. I am pleasantly surprised to be giving this week's movie a VERY positive rating! Thanks for reading!! :D
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