Beautiful Creatures (2013)

This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Sadly Over-hyped

Absolutely amazing

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

Now, the one-rating is little hard I know But this book series was one of the first I ever read, that's how I started reading booksSo, I had a special place in my heart for its characters and plot but I don't even want to discuss how this movie twisted and turned the book into an excuse to make 5-7 movies

I just happened upon this movie out of boredom. I do not have any personal stake in this movie like those who have read the books. It is a interesting movie, and due to the caliber of the cast, the acting is above average. It is definitely of better quality than Twilight in every aspect. Bottom line; I'm slightly older than 18, and I enjoyed the movie. However, the main characters' southern accents are horrible; especially the lead actor. In all honesty, it was distracting. Individuals in SC do not have a Louisiana drawl. Lord help!

Overall movie is good and quite intriguing even, well made too. However, there are some things or mismatches that disappointed me and prevented from fully appreciating the story. Firstly, the name 'Sarafine' was used in the wrong context and applied to the wrong character. Having the same name myself, - 'Seraphima' - I am quite aware of what it means. It can never be given to an antagonist with evil intentions as the name describes a six wings angel of a highest order who stands by God. Obviously, Sarafine of the movie was far away from that. Not having read the book, I am not sure if the name was taken from the book as it was or it was an invention of a screenwriter who relayed the story and assigned the wrong name to the wrong character. In any case, for me it was a gross mismatch. Another disappointing element was inconsistency of the statements and the final actions of the main protagonists. It was obvious that Ethan had a powerful feeling, love, that could protect the girl from the curse. He talked about it and the family agreed that it is not them but him, the boy, who is the protector. However, in the end the family still decides to protect her herself and the boy and his declarations become obsolete and almost wiped off. What was then the point of his declarations exactly? That love did not protect and could not battle for itself and for the people in love? Also, where was the boy when Macon pretended to be him and got shot? That was not clear at all. And the last mismatch was that the antagonistic Sarafine as the mother of Lena was not given a chance to love and express her feelings to her daughter which she obviously had but in the end was denied them anyway.

The Twilight saga had ended a year before the release of this film, not to be confused for the 2000 film of the same name with Rachel Weisz, it was obvious the makers were trying to aim for the same audience, directed by Richard LaGravenese (P.S. I Love You). Basically in Gatlin, South Carolina, teenager Ethan Lawson Wate (Hail, Caesar's Alden Ehrenreich) wants to finish high school and go to college to leave his small-town existence behind, that is until he meets a mysterious girl named Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert). Ethan has been experiencing strange dreams recently, all of which have a girl appear, Lena is a newcomer who has just enrolled at the school, he recognises her as the girl of his dreams. Lena is rejected by the rest of her classmates, because she is the niece of Macon Ravenwood (Jeremy Irons), superstitious residents of the small Southern town consider him to be a devil-worshipper, he disapproves of the relationship forming between Ethan and her. Ethan ignores the spread gossip regarding Lena's reclusive uncle, they fall in love as they spend more time together, Lena eventually confesses that her family are "casters", capable of performing magical spells. Lena also tells that when it comes to her sixteenth birthday, she will become a true witch, but it is unclear whether she will be claimed by either the forces of light or of darkness, she will only remain in the light if she does not remain in love with Ethan. To make things worse, Lena's mother Sarafine (Emma Thompson) is casting spells to encourage Lena to surrender and push her to the dark side, Ethan joins her as they search for a magical spell to save their doomed love and break the curse. Also starring Viola Davis as Amarie "Amma" Treadeau, The Day After Tomorrow's Emmy Rossum as Ridley Duchannes, Thomas Mann as Wesley Jefferson "Link" Lincoln, Doc Martin's Eileen Atkins as Emmaline "Gramma" Duchannes, Margo Martindale as Delphine "Aunt Del" Duchannes, Zoey Deutch as Emily Asher and Kyle Gallner as Larkin Ravenwood. Ehrenreich as the bored teenager who finds love and Englert as the beautiful and weird new girl on the block are both terrific, and Irons and Thompson give good supporting performance as the elders trying to break them apart. I will be honest and say that I drifted a few times, probably because I found it fairly predictable, there were some eye-catching scenes where the special effects were used well, I agree with critics that the first half is better than the second, it is based on a series of books, it is unknown if a franchise will continue the story, overall it is a reasonable romantic Gothic fantasy. Worth watching!