BEAUTIFUL CREATURES
Director : Richard LaGravanese
Year : 2013
Genre : Fantasy
Rating : **1/2
Based on the popular novel by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl and directed by screenwriter Richard LaGravanese, 'Beautiful Creatures' is yet another film that has been made in the shadow cast by the now dead 'Twilight' franchise. Telling the story of a young boy falling in love with a witch, 'Beautiful Creatures' continues the modern trend of adolescent blockbusters which contain elements of both gothic horror and teen romance. However, while some of these movies have been fun, campy rides such as the hugely entertaining 'Warm Bodies', others have failed to meet the relatively basic requirements of it's subgenre, as is the case with 'The Host'. 'Beautiful Creatures' falls somewhere in the middle; it has moments of sly humour and has some great scene - chewing performances from the always reliable Emma Thompson and Jeremy Irons but it fails to deliver an interesting love story and forgets to develop the 2 central characters. In a movie like this, the romance has to work for the film to work as a whole piece. Unfortunately, due to both the acting talents of it's 2 main actors and the rather conventional and clichéd screenplay, 'Beautiful Creatures' becomes a rather anodyne piece of fluff that never manages to fully engage or intrigue any point.
The film tells the story of Ethan, a socially awkward teenager who is desperate to escape from his town of Gatlin, South Carolina. An avid reader of the works of Kurt Vonnegut, Anthony Burgess and other acerbic writers, he forms ideologies and values that make him unpopular with his peers and reclusive. However, his world changes when newcomer Lena Duchannes arrives at his school and immediately an attraction is established between the two. Just as nervous and as socially awkward as he is, Lena becomes the target of bullying and insults. Rumours of her mysterious uncle Macon Underwood begin to form and soon Lena is accused of being a witch. When pushed too far, Lena shatters a large window and soon even the shy and reserved Ethan realises that there maybe more to Lena than meets the eye. Soon falling into a whirlwind of romance, both Ethan and Lena fight to save her soul from the dark forces trying to turn her into a creature of evil. However, time is running out and on her 16th birthday, her fate will be chosen by a power far beyond her own.
Director Richard LaGravenese is probably best known as the scriptwriter for many of the most popular movies of recent years. His CV includes such hits as 'The Fisher King', 'The Horse Whisperer', 'Water For Elephants' and 'Behind The Candelabra' and while excelling in the art of screenplay writing, his directing career cannot profess to be as prolific or successful. While having helmed some works of note such as 'Freedom Writers' and 'Living Out Loud', clunkers such as 'PS. I Love You' also form part of his back catalogue and unfortunately 'Beautiful Creatures' falls into the bucket of the lesser movies that he has made. With an overuse of mediocre CGI and resorting to basic and generic archetypes, LeGravenese fails to bring interesting characters or eye catching visuals to the screen. Added to this a dull and lifeless script and topped off with a heap of uninteresting plot developments and an obvious final act, 'Beautiful Creatures' becomes nothing more than a way to spend 2 hours of your life. It's not going to annoy or offend anyone. It will just disappear from the mind like a puff of smoke the moment it finishes.
FOR ALL THOSE INTERESTED IN THE
PUNK/ALTERNATIVE MUSIC SCENE, THE UPCOMING BIRMINGHAM BAND 'DRAG' IS IN NEED OF SUPPORT TO
HELP FUND THE RELEASE OF THEIR BRILLIANT DEBUT ALBUM 'NEUROTICA : A COMPENDIUM
OF TALES REGARDING BODY AND SOUL'. GO ON, YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO :
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