Beautiful Creatures

Beautiful Creatures (2013) – Director: Richard LaGravenese

Rating: 12A

Running Length: 124 minutes

Starring: Alice Englert, Alden Ehrenreich, Emma Thompson, Viola Davis

Genre: Fantasy

REVIEW: ‘BEAUTIFUL CREATURES’

‘Beautiful Creatures’ is an adaptation from the 2009 novel of the same name by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl and is heralded as somewhat of a replacement for bereaved ‘Twilight’ fans. It is not entirely fair to compare the two though as ‘Beautiful Creatures’ has a lot more going for it than simply adding to the already saturated teenage magical romance market. Set in a southern town that is so gripped by Bible belt sensibilities that any form of variation is cattily derided as devil worshipping, 16-year-old Ethan is merely existing until he can escape. The appearance of the initially rude and dismissive Lena piques his interest, and his attempts to woo her affections are all the more believable for her representing a different attitude to a town so set in its ways. This is a romance that feels completely natural and doesn’t ever veer into the daytime TV drama and pouty obsession that peppers some other franchises. This can be attributed in part to better rounded characterisation, but also in no small part to the warmth behind lead performers Alice Englert and Alden Ehrenreich.

‘Beautiful Creatures’ does suffer somewhat from ‘adaptation’ syndrome. Plot elements are introduced and then dropped in a manner which suggests cutting and reworking of the source material and after an enjoyably paced exploration of character and introduction of narrative, the final act does rush by in a blaze of conveniences and half-explained name checks to things that haven’t been given any prior focus. In addition it is a shame that more screen time couldn’t have been given to the superb Emma Thompson who, as Mrs Lincoln, manages to play both a tight-laced southern tub-thumper and a delightfully wicked antagonist with barely concealed glee. However, despite some problems in under explored detail, ‘Beautiful Creatures’ brings the fun back to the fantasy romance genre by the simple tactic of imbuing its leads with genuine spark instead of forced sparkle.

CONTENT: IS ‘BEAUTIFUL CREATURES’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

Despite what you may think about a film that deals with teen romance and the hot southern states, ‘Beautiful Creatures’ never strays too far into sleaze territory, but there are some parts that we would like to highlight.

The romance between Ethan and Lena is dealt with no differently from an ordinary teen romance where the guy is over-keen but the girl initially rejects his advances. As their relationship progresses there are several kissing scenes but these are rather innocently done. There is one moment after a heated discussion where, after Lena has inadvertently ignited a wooden sign Ethan was leaning on, they embrace and kiss passionately. Ethan lifts up Lena and lies her down just out of shot. He then leans in to kiss her again and the scenes cuts. Ordinarily we would suggest that this may imply a sexual encounter, but as Lena is clearly described as 15 years old and all other encounters are strictly kissing only, we do not feel that is the case here. There is also a scene where a middle-aged lady goes topless in order to enact her powers as a ‘seer’, but the audience see only her naked back and a long distance out of focus shot of her from the side.

There are two slightly more heated trysts later between the ‘siren’ character of Ridley Duchannes and Ethan’s best friend, Wesley. Wesley is caught in Ridley’s seductive trap, but this is essentially one short scene where Ridley has a low cup top and another quick scene with some heavy kissing on a bed. Whilst the implication is certainly clear, the content seen ‘on screen’ is mild. We only highlight these parts if you intend to take a younger child, even though a younger child would probably not pick on such mild sexual undertones.

There are some mild scary moments but these are also pretty quick. Neither the direction nor the scoring makes such frights lingering or disturbing. These involve some ‘magical eye’ moments, a scene where Mrs Lincoln attempts to force entrance into a home (where there are magical disturbances and a few seconds of a large scowling face made of black / purple smoke) and a scene in the climax of the movie whereby the antagonist’s true form is revealed in a moment that takes under a minute. We feel that such low-level ‘scares’ may affect children of a particularly sensitive temperament, but otherwise be of no concern. There is also one passing mention by a character about possibly being hanged.

Lastly, there is quite a smattering of mild to moderate bad language in ‘Beautiful Creatures’. ‘Bitch’ is a word used throughout and there a couple of instances of stronger swear words, but these don’t go so far as F-word territory and are often used in a mock conversational tone rather than being used to specifically insult characters. Regardless, we would advise caution with younger viewers in case they repeat such language.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘BEAUTIFUL CREATURES’ FOR KIDS?

‘Beautiful Creatures’ was pleasantly surprising in that it has a much more positive romance storyline than would be assumed from the unfair ‘Twilight’ comparisons. There is very little angst here. The conflict is dealt with in such a manner that the ‘sulky teenager’ parts are never too irritating and neither is the development of the attraction overly sickly. Fine performances from Englert and Ehrenreich ensure we are sold on the main plot line where equally sturdy support from Jeremy Irons brings a well-rounded feel to the main cast. Although the rest of Lena’s family are instantly forgettable and suffer somewhat from obviously having their roles chopped out by the adaptation, Thompson brings a bombastic element of fun to the party. This isn’t a movie for the morose, and it is all the better for it.

We wouldn’t go so far as to say that ‘Beautiful Creatures’ is unsuitable for children. It certainly has a peppering of bad language and the occasional low-cut top but we leave this down to your own judgement of acceptability. If anything, we suspect ‘Beautiful Creatures’ may bore younger children. It isn’t action packed nor is it comedy filled. The entertainment comes more from the fantasy element to the backdrop of a closed-minded Bible belt town and the rather sweet teenage love story that blossoms from it. We feel this movie should be suitable for children aged 8 and above, depending on your views on the cursing involved.

• Violence: 1/5 (the finale features a brief wound)
• Emotional Distress:  2/5 (Lena is often upset that she may not be in charge of her own destiny, but this is not played too strongly)
• Fear Factor: 1/5 (minor magical spooks)
• Sexual Content: 2/5 (in addition to the scenes mentioned above one character states of another with innuendo, ‘we all know what makes you choke’)
• Bad Language: 3/5
• Dialogue: 0/5
• Other notes: Deals with themes of pre-destination, supporting those who appear to be taking a dark path, and the importance of education over prejudice)

Words by Mike Record

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