Bidding to fill the teen void left by the Twilight franchise, this slice of Southern Gothic gives us the requisite small town and the mortal in love with the supernatural. Beautiful Creatures however, is more than just a Twilight knock off and has its own charm and promise, even if it sags a little in the final third.
Gatlin, South Carolina, is a small insular town, unchanging and deeply religious. Ethan Wate is desperate to finish college and escape but finds himself attracted to new girl Lena Duchannes, daughter of Gatlin's richest eccentric and recluse Macon. Rumours abound that the family are satanists and Lena is shunned by most of the students. Gradually a bond develops between the bookish Ethan and the outcast Lena and he eventually learns her deep secret - the Duchannes are 'Casters' (witches to us) and, upon her sixteenth birthday, Lena will be claimed either by the forces of light or dark. How does this tie in with a locket that Ethan finds that dates back to a fateful battle in the American Civil War? What is the curse that the family speak of? Finally, can Lena find a way to resist the temptation to turn dark, especially as her cousin Ridley and mother Sarafine are desperate for her to join them?
While Beautiful Creatures shares much DNA with Twilight and with the True Blood novels of Charlene Harris, offering us nothing much that we haven't seen already, director Richard LaGravanese keeps things brisk and there's a seam of humour running through the movie that the Twilight series sorely lacked. Not only this but the two principal leads are excellent and likeable in a way that Bella and the Cullens never were. As Ethan, Alden Ehrenreich is excellent, bringing a great mix of energy and depreciating charm. My Cinema Buddy compared him to a young Jack Nicholson and one can see something of the young Jack in him. His naturalistic performance gives the film a believability it doesn't really deserve. As Lena, Alice Englert is required to be more enigmatic but is able to show us the young vulnerable girl underneath the goth outfits, the attitude and the spells. Crucially we get to see the two date in a way that feels real, despite the supernatural.
There's also some strongly marinated performances from the support cast especially Jeremy Irons as Macon, having a ball wandering around in his cream suits and preposterous accent. I've not seen him this twinkly in years. Emmy Rossum as bad girl Ridley is also good value, turning up to pick up Ethan in a red sports car clad in some black lace. Rounding out the cast are Viola Davis as Amma, the local seer and keeper of the Caster library and Emma Thompson as the local God squadding wife who is taken over by Lena's mother Sarafine. Thompson is brilliant and is also obviously having a ball in this larger than life role. It's this infectious sense of fun, the impression that there's an awareness of the daftness of the whole piece, that makes this a much more fun experience than the deeply po-faced Twilight films.
In terms of thrills, Beautiful Creatures is a little lacking at times. We get the odd bit of lightning, some exploding glass and one great stand out moment when Lena and Ridley face off against each other at dinner, while the table, guests included, spin around in the middle of the maelstrom, but it's missing a great wow moment that sticks in the memory. While the relationship is handled well there's a distinct lack of pace at the three quarters mark with interminable scenes set in an underground library, Lena moping in a big book of spells while Ethan hangs around a lot. The film's resolution is also rather dotty and doesn't stand up to close scrutiny. Still, Beautiful Creatures was a lot more satisfying than I expected it to be and, should a second be greenlit, I could see myself happily watching it.
GK Rating: *** The Blog of Delights
No comments:
Post a Comment