BEAUTIFUL CREATURES Has some Southern Charm

Here we have yet another big screen adaptation of a popular Young Adult novel series. I would like to cut directly to the important analysis, right to what matters here and state that “Beautiful Creatures” is better than “Twilight” but not as good as “The Hunger Games”.

That about sums it all up. You good? I could go on a bit if you’d like?

Of course the pudding is in the details so let me elaborate a touch. “Beautiful Creatures” is an American Gothic tale set in the teeny town of Gatlin, South Carolina. Ethan Wate (Alden Ehrenreich) is a smart, charming kid that thinks of little more than of his escape one day. He doesn’t fit in here, he reads Vonnegut, operates with an open mind and desires nothing but change. He spends his time parked out by the “You are Leaving Gatlin” sign, watching the cars fade into the Great Other. Enter Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert), a mysterious girl who just may be who Ethan has been dreaming about. She actually is the girl he has been having dreams about. Literally.

Strangers ain’t taken too kindly to ‘round these parts and Lena is an instant outcast. She is the niece of local shut-in Macon Ravenwood who everyone knows worships the devil. While the backwards townsfolk may be ignorant to reality, they’re not too far off when it comes to ol’ Macon. He is a Supernatural, a Caster who can summon great powers with interesting hand gestures and his mysterious young niece Lena possesses the same “gifts”. But Lena’s 16th birthday soon approaches and her true nature will be revealed on that day. It’s called The Claiming. Will she be a good witch or a bad witch like her mother Sarafine and cousin Ridley? I’m Team Bad Witch but you’ll have to see the flick to find out.

“Beautiful Creatures” starts things off solid as Ehrenreich and Englert enjoy tangible chemistry as our star-crossed lovers. The dialogue pops with Southern charm in the first act and Ehrenreich’s Ethan is loaded with charisma. The two spend time talking about literature and love and it is endearing. Luckily the film does not follow the “Twilight” formula and feature a love triangle (even Katniss must decide between two hunks) which is refreshing. Emmy Rossum is sexy and slinky as Bad Cousin Ridley but she is given very little to do. She injects the film with energy when she arrives but then disappears for most of the story.

This world created by series writers Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl has some interesting quirks and rules but the stakes never really get that high and the film fizzles some by the end. Part of the issue is that the action sequences look like they were generated in a computer and never touch on realism. Much of the images of the film look like the glossy cover art of these Young Adult novels and the world does not seem lived in. We are watching actors acting on sets and it’s distracting.

I did enjoy the story enough to want to know what happens next. This is the first of the four book series and, as we know, if it does well they can split the final book into 6 parts and milk it for all these “Beautiful Creatures” are worth.