Beautiful Creatures (2013) Alden Ehrenreich, Alice Englert, Jeremy Irons, Viola Davis Movie Review

Beautiful Creatures (2013)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Alice Englert in Beautiful Creatures (2013)

The Casters of Gatlin

Not much happens in the town of Gatlin, South Carolina which is why Ethan Wate (Alden Ehrenreich) has had one thing on his mind, finishing high school and getting away to college. But then not only does he start dreaming of a girl that girl, Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert), starts at his school and with it trouble starts as many of the school's superstitious pupils think she is a devil worshipper as she is the granddaughter of Macon Ravenwood who owned the land the town is built upon. And as Ethan discovers it is not that ridiculous as Lena is a Caster who when she turns 16 will be claimed, either becoming filled with light or dark. With it becoming clear that Lena is in love with Ethan they must find a magic spell to ensure her future is light or else being in love will lead to darkness.

Romance, supernatural elements, evil relatives: oh dear doesn't "Beautiful Creatures" sound an awful lot like those pesky "Twilight" movies. In truth I imagine that was the reason why the novel of the same name by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl was turned in to a movie as the studio decision makers were looking for projects which they knew would have an already built audience, it is how the movie making business works these days. And in fairness I am confident in saying that maybe those who were a little too young for "Twilight" when it started will be enchanted by "Beautiful Creatures".

Alden Ehrenreich in Beautiful Creatures (2013)

But I guess I am getting a bit old for these movies as whilst "Beautiful Creatures" ticks numerous boxes of what I expect from a commercial movie the end result didn't really grab or entertain me. As to those boxes it ticks, well it has a recognizable cast alongside some good looking young stars, it has drama, teen romance, some impressive looking sets and plenty of special effects to make romantic the romantic scenes fantasy like. Put it simply this has the "Twilight" feel except with Casters which to be honest is nothing more than another term for witches.

What this all boils down to is that "Beautiful Creatures" is "Twilight" but for the next generation as it has the same vibe. And I am sure for the right age group it works but for this older Muggle it did little for me.


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