With Harry Potter firmly locked away in the Hall Of Magical Fame and Twilight finally putting the pillow over their dying saga it was time for another magical film to prevent us from realising that reality is all we have and the our guns should remain safely in our holsters. That such film comes in the form of Beautiful Creatures, based on the novel of the same name by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.



Contrary to popular opinion, I'm pretty easy to please. When I heard this film involved a tempestuous love affair, magic and wonder and Emma Thompson with a Southern accent, I was sold. Then I picked up the book and things began to shift a little bit. The novel tells the story of lovable jock Ethan Wate and the girl of his dreams (literally) as they embark on the emotional Love Train that stops at Crazy Town, Heartbreak Central and Witchcraft County. The girl in question, Lena Duchannes, turns out to be a witch, I'm sorry Caster, and her clock is ticking because on her sixteenth birthday her powers are going to be claimed either for the light and dark side.



Not going to lie, I thought the book was a touch cheesy but then again, stories involving magic and love do tend to be. It's fine, we've all made our peace with it. But when it comes to film, we the audience of today are happy to have the magic but we want it done tastefully. This film does that... to a degree. The danger with the film adaptation was that it would either be too gritty and adult or it would be, may God forgive me, a bit Twilight-y. The cast play a huge role in making this film good. The two leads Alden Ehrenreich (try saying that three times when you've had that fourth Chardonnay) and Alice Englert are a wonderful duo but top prize most go to the former. American beauty Ehrenreich took a character that could be seen as annoying to some audiences (A.K.A. Me) and make him lovable and desirable. Seriously, the man is gorgeous but he could have looked like the effing Elephant Man, it really didn't matter, because Ethan was so cute and the way he wore those glasses and read Slaughter House Five... I can't even...



Looks aside he was so delightful and charming in the way he carried himself, I fell in love with him instantly. Clearly so did Englert by the way that she bounced off his banter and kissed him with so much passion I felt like the 12A Certificate should have been questioned. They were a perfect pairing and manged to even out act legends such as Jeremy Irons and Viola Davis in some scenes with only lingering, smoldering, suggestive looks. Emma Thompson proves why she's still getting the big budget roles as well as she kicks some serious arse as Serafine, an even bitch with some serious issues in regards to her looks. Not that she should be worried, for a woman of a certain age she sure can pull of a strapless dress!

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Beautiful Creatures does however lack in certain areas. For example, had I not read the book before I might have got lost in the madness of it all. It cuts straight into the action with only a fancy-worded monologue for the stragglers behind and the whole Caster bomb shell was dropped pretty quickly also. I mean c'mon people, a little foreplay wouldn't have gone a miss. Also, there were times when the sentimental mushy-gushy moments were Ethan and Lena cried and kissed in the rain felt very Nicholas Sparks. Having gone to see Beautiful Creatures in order to avoid seeing Safe Haven, I felt a little bit cheated.



Overall, the film has everything it needs of its genre. The love between the two main characters was believable and damn hot, the flashback scenes were handled with elegance and 21st Century vintage-ness and not to mention the story line was pretty good as well. I would recommend it for anyone trying to escape reality... and are attracted to men with fine physiques and fine Southern accents. Well worth the price of a movie ticket and then some.