Beautiful Creatures

Beautiful Creatures, the latest film from director Richard LaGravenese is a smartly written and well put together film. What could have descended into a Twilight-esque type movie, Creatures stayed just above that morass and instead delivered entertainment worthy of the price of admission. Because of that, I give Beautiful Creatures three buckets of Killer Korn.

Adapted from the young adult novel written by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, Beautiful Creatures is a story of a 15 year old girl named Lena Duchannes. Lena, played by the brooding Alice Englert comes from a family of "casters" (they prefer that to the usual "witches" and "warlocks") and Lena's mother Serafine is one of the most powerful casters around. Serafine is played by the amazingly talented Emma Thompson and surprisingly this role fits her perfectly. She and the magical Viola Davis who plays Amma are two of the three main reasons I bought a ticket to see this film. The third was because of Jeremy Irons, who plays Lena's uncle, the all powerful Macon Ravenwood (who's a BIG fan of google by the way). With a cast like that, I really didn't care that this was taken from a young adult novel which centered around a crazy love story between two high school aged kids (really not my usual kinds of movies), I just had to see those three actors on the screen together.

The love story I mentioned is between Lena and Ethan Wate, played by the charming Alden Ehrenreich. For months he's been dreaming about this girl that he's drawn to, he knows he shouldn't go to her, he knows harm would befall him, yet he goes to her unafraid. Just when he gets to her though, she vanishes. Now Ethan is your typical High School junior who happens to live in small Gatlin, South Carolina. He's respectful but hard headed, social but an outsider, a follower who most times marches to the beat of his own drum. He reads books that have been banned by the local churches and his on again/off again girlfriend is a true believer whereas Ethan...not so much. Ethan's mother died a year ago and his father can't seem to get it together to even leave his room which gives Ethan carte blanche to pretty much do what he wants. To keep him in line though is Amma, who was Ethan's mother's best friend. Amma promised Ethan's mother that she would look after both Ethan and his dad should something happen to her and that's just what she does. She pretty much comes across as Ethan's hands off mom, asking him about colleges and girlfriends while supplying the men with food from time to time.

Ethan meets Lena on the first day of school and with Lena coming from a family that many in the community believe or Satan worshippers, she's not shown that famous southern hospitality. Lena lashes out and Ethan is instantly drawn to this girl and she is reluctantly drawn to him. Their romance happens a bit quickly but Lena tells Ethan that she's been dreaming of him too, which lends some credibility to their quick romance. Lena also has to deal with her impending birthday in which female casters become either light or dark casters depending on their true nature. Lena wants to be light but the choice is not hers, it's her souls choice to make and that has her worried. Lena's cousin Ridley, played with such evil playfulness by Emmy Rossum has come to town to help make sure Lena goes dark and has sided with Lena's mother to ensure it.

The story takes an odd turn and simply must be seen to be believed and enjoyed and you will NOT see the ending coming, unless you've read the books. Yes, I said books, four in total. So you can best believe that if Beautiful Creatures does any kind of real business at the box office, there will be more movies. I know, I know what you're thinking but don't fret because while this movie does have a slight Twilight/Harry Potter tinge to it, it is its own animal. Richard LaGravenese has done a terrific job of keeping this from going down those roads. The music which was drowned out throughout much of the film was by thenewno2 and it didn't impress. It was dull and without any real impact in my opinion. That being said, with it's great cast and beautiful backdrop (the film was shot in Louisiana) shot by cinematographer Philippe Rousselot, and original storyline, Beautiful Creatures will not disappoint so check it out, if for no other reason than to see Jeremy, Viola, and Emma on screen together. And I'll see you at the theater.