In a universe where a vampire falling in love with a 16-year-old girl becomes a worldwide phenomenon, just about anything can happen. Ethan Wate, (Alden Ehrenreich) is a 16-year-old boy living in the fictional town of Gatlin, S.C. A few months ago he started having dreams about a girl he’s never even met. He is quickly thrown into a whirlwind of mystery when he meets the new girl in school (the girl in his dreams), Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert).
Ethan soon realizes that Lena possesses strange and mystical powers and the two quickly fall in love, but their romance is threatened by the realization that on Lena’s 16th birthday she will either be claimed by the light, or the dark. Ethan and Lena race against time to find a way to break the spell before it’s too late.
When you take it at face value, “Beautiful Creatures” is nothing more than a tangent straight off the “Twilight” bandwagon. I half expected a scene set in the woods where Lena requests: “Say it,” and Alden whispers, “You’re a Witch.”
It’s not that “Beautiful Creatures” is bad, it’s just not great. To be honest, the first act of this film is actually quite intriguing. It builds a mythology around its characters and allows them to breathe and move freely within it. But after the first maybe 30 minutes, it starts to go downhill very quickly. This can mainly be attributed to the screenplay by Richard LaGravenese (who also directed the film), adapted from the novel of the same name written by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.
In the novel, the prose flows rather smoothly. But on the screen, things feel jumbled and disjointed. Although, you have to give LaGravenese a little slack for packing a 563 page novel into a 124 minute film. But you’d think since not only did he write the film but also directed it that he would make things a bit more coherent.
The performances by Ehrenreich and Englert are dry and uninteresting. They don’t play their parts to the fullest. They’re obviously talented actors, but they seem to stick to the same few facial expressions and emotive ranges that you could count on one hand.Also, Ehrenreich is supposed to be a sophomore in high school, but at the age of 23, looks more like a sophomore or junior in college. This is a fantasy film, but that little detail makes it a lot harder for you to suspend your disbelief.
The best thing about this film has to be the cinematography by Philippe Rousselot. The colors really pop and each and every shot is meticulously lighted and framed. There were some shots in particular that you could print out and hang on a wall, they looked so good.
In the end, “Beautiful Creatures” turn out to be more like ordinary ones. With strong source material but a poorly executed script and direction, the story never really takes off to the heights that it could have. The film may look pretty, but looks don’t get you everything.
C-
http://youtu.be/c8C-wk5XfpE
