I was thrown off by the positive reviews and the ones saying it's better than "Twilight". That's not saying much.
I really wanted to like the movie. I did. But there are a few key areas which I feel it fell flat on it's face.
On the positive note, there were pieces I liked.... The sub-plot of motivation for leaving town, the poetry, etc... added a certain depth and feeling to the story.
First off, it feels like an early teen novel in the sense that the storytelling is a bit fantastic, and not in the good sense of the word. One defining characteristic of teen novels are the implausible and extreme (ie silly) behaviors of characters (overemphasizing good and evil) without any sort of relation to human psychology. I don't think it's the fault of the original author of the book, I'm thinking it's more the director who seems to have the mentality of a 13 year old girl. Totally lacking of any emotional or psychological depth behind what happens. Personally I don't think there's such thing as "good" or "evil", so when a story overemphasizes it, it seems corny and aimed at pubescent children who have yet to understand morality. Good stories of morality are supposed to teach our youth how to choose good and how to avoid a selfish and reckless way of life. Without the moral tale, it somewhat gives off the sense that evil is just inevitable. It's not like life events make people selfish or empathetic (sarcasm). Not what teens need to hear. We've gotten to an age where stories entertain and no longer teach, which I find tragic.
Second, the concept of "light versus dark" seemed annoying. To say that whether a teenage girl chooses good or evil is beyond her control, seems sexist if you ask me. Boys can control their will, but girls can't. Probably a plot point to make the whole story even possible. In the end, the girl chooses both.
I was a bit annoyed by how the adults acted with authority but they all had a certain cluelessness of what was going to happen or what was possible, ie how the girl could break the family curse. Seemed to reek of Twilight. Maybe if these two teen lovers just love each other then that will be enough. Major Cheese.
Also, I didn't quite understand the whole hatred of the girl's family. Everyone thought they were witches, and as the bible-thumpers they were, they hated them - but overall it felt forced and perhaps due to the fantasticness of being a young teen novel. Again, no real explanation or psychological justification. I didn't feel like it made sense. Maybe the novel was just bad at addressing that, or maybe the movie just skipped that part. But the Ravenwoods having founded the town and owning much of the land, yet being the hated of most - seemed an odd combination. If people didn't like them so extremely, why not leave for the next town? Why rent land from them (for various local businesses) and support them financially? Just seemed silly.
The explanation of the cause of the family curse - a "castor" could never love a "mortal".... Seemed ridiculous. I could let some types of "magic" pass as reasonable - such as the spell the uncle put on the boy to get him to spew out his most plausible - and pathetic - future (rather than his actual aspirations to get out of the area).... Or even the storms, the wind, the trap at the front gate of the house.... But the "never loving a mortal" thing seemed more of the life isn't in your control nonsense. All because her ancestor used a 'forbidden' spell to bring her then husband back to life. Only for her to turn 'evil' and kill him again. I mean I would like to appreciate teen romances (and some are good), but this is ridiculous.
Lastly, the "only way to save him is through erasing his memory" is lame, and my understanding is that was added to the script not in the original novels. It seemed cheap, like a way to jump the story ahead without explaining how you went from point A to point X.
I went into this looking for the romance, and it seemed to go well for a while, but out of the blue they cut that part of the story out.
I would say if you're a 14 year old girl, you'll probably like this movie. Otherwise, be wary of the story's immaturity, lack of depth, and just plain silliness. I felt like with the right screenwriters and director, this could have been something radically different. If people get offended at the suggestion that this has the cheese factor of Twilight, then I would hate to watch Twilight because this isn't that great either.
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