Review of Beautiful Creatures (2013) by Cysko H — 19 Jun 2013

Shaky C-.

I was never able to stomach the entire Twilight franchise, much as I love fantasy/supernatural/mystical monster type movies. Beautiful Creatures felt like an attempt to create a Twilight-like franchise, except with...Witc...erm, "Casters". It's a different type of story and a different storytelling method but it all comes up feeling like a comparison movie to Twilight. Now, granted, I'm not exactly a young adult anymore so I realize and accept that these movies are geared towards teens, mostly - but for me, that's no real excuse because I've flat out enjoyed movies designed for kids, much less (Brave, Wreck-It-Ralph, Despicable Me), so unless my own mind is playing tricks, I should be able to appreciate a well made movie geared towards teens, as well.

The effects were somewhat commendable, very stylized and fun to watch, but the content lacked so much that there was no real redeeming quality for me as a whole. The acting by the main 2 characters fell short and the stellar performances by the tried and true actors willing to do this movie couldn't create any sort of balance. It was like watching 2 different movies simultaneously with no form of cohesiveness.

For all it's worth, it was at least entertaining and that is what matters. There are some movies I can't sit through at all, this one was worthy of being watched until it was over and while the story wasn't all that engaging, by the end of it I hadn't felt like I wasted my time (completely). I think with more solid casting and perhaps different directing (and direction), this would have been a better ride. I'm not sure how faithful the movie stayed to the novel and I'm not sure if that could be why it felt so awkward.

It may be a fun romp for those people who loved Twilight.

I have no intention of watching this movie again. I didn't watch it at the cinema so I can't say for sure if it was more fun or not on a bigger screen. I don't recommend spending to see the movie, but if you can't find anything else to watch on cable or if you have premiums on-demand, there's no real loss to watching it.