Beautiful Creatures Review

Beautiful Creatures Review

Cast: Alice Englert, Viola Davis, Emma Thompson
Director: Richard LaGravenese
Genre: Drama, Fantasy
Rated: M
Running Time: 124 minutes

Synopsis: Oscar® nominee Richard LaGravenese ('The Fisher King,"'P.S. I Love You") directs the supernatural love story 'Beautiful Creatures" from his adaptation of the first novel in the best-selling series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.

Ethan Wate (Alden Ehrenreich), 17, has had the same recurring dream for months. A mysterious young girl is waiting for him on a Civil War battlefield. Ethan desperately wants to be with her, but there is an unknown danger"and each time a lightning bolt cracks like a gunshot, killing Ethan before he ever reaches the girl.

The danger of this strange dream world, however, is preferable to Ethan's waking existence in Gatlin, South Carolina, a small, conservative Southern town that hasn't caught up to the 21st century, where nothing ever changes and nothing ever happens. Trapped at home with a father who has completely withdrawn since the sudden death of Ethan's mother, Ethan yearns for a life he can only read about in books.

But Ethan's mundane world is shaken up with the arrival of Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert), the beautiful and enigmatic niece of Macon Ravenwood (Jeremy Irons), the reclusive owner of gothic Ravenwood Manor. Ethan finds himself immediately drawn to Lena, even though destruction seems to inexplicably follow her and it becomes apparent that she is a Caster, with powers beyond her control. The town, led by conservative Mrs. Lincoln (Emma Thompson), wants her banished. Even Gatlin's all-knowing librarian, Amma (Viola Davis), is afraid history may repeat itself"a history of family secrets and a curse that looms for Lena as she approaches her 16th birthday. It is that time when a Caster is chosen by the forces of either the Light or the Dark.

But Lena's fate may already be sealed by the curse that draws both her and Ethan into a tangled web of spells and peril from which there may be no escape.

Verdict: I thoroughly enjoyed Beautiful Creatures however fans of the book series need to walk into the cinema with an open mind and distance themselves from the book as the film adaptation of Beautiful Creatures is dramatically different to the text. Whilst the sentiment of the original text is underlying, the film downfall and ending is completely changed. Although altered Beautiful Creatures is an amazing film one that I thoroughly enjoyed especially seeing the film through the eyes of mortal, Ethan Wate.

Whilst the character of powerful Caster, Lena Duchannes is captured in its truest form by Alice Englert; Ethan Wate differs in Alden Ehrenreich's portrayal which showcases Ethan as a charming yet goofy and funny male. However, together Lena and Alden are the cute couple that jumps off the pages in the text and pulls you into the story.

As Lena and Ethan try to find a way to break the family curse before Lena's 16th birthday, when it will be determined if she is claimed for the light or dark; audiences will be fascinated with their relationship, how history plays its role today and the family of Casters.

Beautiful Creatures

Release Date: 21st February, 2013