Review of Beautiful Creatures (2013) by Hoops2448 — 06 Jul 2013

Twilight is over so now the search for the new replacement begins and first up is Beautiful Creatures, a film without a middle or and end, just a really long beginning. The film tells the story of what happens when Ethan (Alden Ehrenreich) starts having dreams about a mysterious girl called Lena (Alice Englert).

When he meets her his life is turned upside down as he is introduced to magic and the rest of Lena's family, a mixture of dark and light casters intent on controlling Lena's decision of which side (light or dark) to join.

Beautiful Creatures has one storyline, one thing propelling the story meaning it isn't complicated and it isn't hard to follow. It also means that this story requires a conclusion as it is the only possible story to conclude and if there isn't a conclusion the end of this film will not resonate and the film will ultimately lack any kind of emotional draw whatsoever.

Well it turns out that the director felt an ambiguous ending would be more affecting than a conclusive one. He is mistaken though with the ending of the film making a mockery of a pretty decent love story and a film that has some good things going for it like good performances by the two leads and by supporting characters such as Viola Davis and Emmy Rossum.

The cast look just as confused as I was when the finale came around as they muddle through pointless scenes designed to resolve nothing as the plot unravels and the film crumbles. For a film about a tragic curse and the decision of whether to be evil or good, Beautiful Creatures has no real stakes, neither of the two leads are really in jeopardy, in fact the action is always done in an almost comic way to lighten the melodramatic mood meaning any kind of tragic ending is not in the cards.

It's ultimately garbage that in trying to provide a romantic ending have ruined a movie that had a decent melodrama, an enjoyable lead couple and some decent writing (until the end). It's a film that builds and builds to a climax that never arrives and therefore it feels like nothing happens at all making the entire experience forgettable and frustrating.