Beautiful Creatures (2013) review

This year has definitely got off to an unstable start with most films turning out to be a major disappointment. Amongst some popular films, so far such as Gangster Squad comes one of the small films, a teen romance called 'Beautiful Creatures' 

Just by taking a look at the cover, it doesn't seem like a promising movie at all. But thankfully, this movie does deliver in many ways to be an enjoyable enough experience. The story telling wasn't perfect but it was good enough to enjoy the story and the characters

I myself would never sit down and watch one of these teen romances, simply because it seemed like it would be Twilight. My choice was to watch the 2013 action flick, Parker but unfortunately it wasn't working so I, for some strange reason put this film in. As I was watching this, there was somewhat a smile on my face! I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Not that its one of the great films or anything but it was definitely exceeding my expectations. 

Beautiful Creatures focuses around a young eccentric, mythical girl named Lena who is soon about to turn 16 and then she will either be cast as light or as dark, when she meets a young boy from school named Ethan Wate, with whom she starts a relationship that may well effect who she grows up to be. 

The plot along seems too much like Twilight for my tastes and even when reviews came in saying that this wasn't Twilight, it didn't change the fact that I thought it was going to suck. Beautiful Creatures is one of those 'guilty pleasures' of mine. For some reason, most elements of the film worked really well especially the dialogue which was at times, extremely funny. It often made me giggle and kept me entertained. Something that I did not expect with this film is how depth some of the characters are, particularly Lena. Most of her past is explained throughout the film but not in any frustrating and time wasting way. A lot of it is emotional and is something that I would buy. 

The main reason I eventually began watching this film was for Jeremy Irons and his amazing performances in films such as The Lion King. He was outstanding in this film and easily gives the best performance of the film. Jeremy Irons is the one that ensures that we take the world presented in this film very seriously, with his very serious performance. Alice Englert plays Lena, and honestly up until now, I've never heard of this actress. She seems extremely young in the film but actually gives a rather decent performance. Sometimes it is evident that she cannot give what is required of her but overall she does a good job. Another name that I've never heard of is Alden Ehrenreich, who plays Ethan and gives a fantastic performance! He possessed every trait required for the role and gave a truly fantastic performance. Emmy Rossum plays Lena's cousin, who prior to being casted was afraid she would cause harm and left her cousin for her safety. She was also good in this film, giving yet another believable performance and yet another funny and likeable performance, even if her character isn't supposed to be! 



The characters are written well in this film, the premise is corny but on screen, it actually works. Now, this is adapted off a novel which I have not read so whether this is loyal to the novel and whether this will please fans of the book, I cannot tell. That said, this film is definitely an enjoyable film, mainly due to the writing.

The special effects in this film are extremely lame yet that is forgettable simply because the film keeps you invested in the characters and story enough for you to put it aside. There are many scenes where the effects are clearly bad such as the spinning table sequence, after Ridley annoys Lena and a scene involving lightning to keep back Lena and Ethan. These sequences did look rather awful yet forgettable. The fact that special effects are only required to tell a story are clearly evident and the bad effects isn't a huge downsider to the film. 



Laying aside the poor special effects, most of the film is actually interesting and somehow, enjoyable. Mostly great acting, followed by an interesting story and characters, mixed with good writing make 'Beautiful Creatures' a good film. Perhaps ten minutes too long but the film keeps you invested enough to forget about that. Not the greatest film of the year but a film that possesses the traits of a decent film. What mainly hurt the film was some elements of the story, but not too much. Overall, a good film. 

Grade-7.5/10 
Definitely not Twilight, a rather enjoyable experience still suffers in many ways such as unnecessary scenes and a tad overlong. Not perfect, but enjoyable enough