My brother and I went to see this in theaters by using our birthday gift our grandmother had given us with much expectations. Later, we walked out of the theater and we had a good time. Even though the professional critics on Rotten Tomatoes gave it mixed feelings, I thought this is a pretty good film. It's not spectacular, though for there are some problems that I do have with the film.
The story was OK. It became quite predictable by using some of the same clichés that we've already seen before like in Twilight, but it got me interested especially towards the end of this flick. There are some times where the exposition throughout the film is a bit too much for my tastes.
Flaws aside, this film does have some good qualities. The cinematography is brilliant and the scenery of South Carolina is beautiful to look at. The direction is above-decent and the music score is surprisingly good. The special effects are pretty good too and the golden eyes effect is the perfect highlight. The dialog is pretty smart and mixes melodrama and campy humor pretty well throughout the film.
The best part, however, would have to go to the cast. Emma Thompson as Serafine sometimes overacts, but by golly was she enjoyable; Emmy Rossum did a nice job as the foxy Ridley, Viola Davis did very good as Amma and Jeremy Irons (the famous actor from The Lion King, Eragon, etc.) did a fantastic job as the menacing and edgy Macon Ravenwood. However, the best characters would have to go to the two main protagonists. Alden Enrenreich did an amazing job as the charismatic Ethan Wate while Alice Englert is a perfect Lena Duchannes, thus making them a much likable duo than Bella and Edward from Twilight.
Overall, I have yet to read the book it was based on and I understood all the hatred this flick had, but despite it's own problems, Beautiful Creatures is a pretty good fantasy romance flick that is way better than the Twilight movies and I think would be recommended to those who haven't seen it yet.
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