****
Now that the ‘Twilight Saga’ has
drawn to a close, distributers are keen to find the next teen-fantasy that will
keep the fan-girls coming to the cinema. ‘Beautiful Creatures’ is one such
offering to be release this year, but I would ask you not to dismiss this foray
into teenage romance so quickly.
Part of the joy of this film come
from the two delightful leads, relative newcomers Alice Englert and Alden Ehrenreich,
as two teens both trapped in their own existence and marred by past traumas.
Ethan (Ehrenreich) has lived in a small Southern town his whole life and longs
to escape, when the mysterious Lena (Englert) arrives. Lena comes from a cursed
family of Casters, witches to you and me, and only has until her sixteenth
birthday before her powers are gained by either Good or Evil. As if being a
teenager wasn’t hard enough! Shunned by the Bible-bashing town, Lena lives a
protected existence with her uncle, Macon (Jeremy Irons, grappling with the
accent and failing). Ethan, also an outsider as demonstrated through his
excellent taste in literature, befriends Lena and their romance ensues.
Of course, all is not well and
soon evil Casters Ridley and Sarafine appear to try and corrupt Lena for their own
purposes. Emma Thompson plays Sarafine and she is fantastic – she really lets
her hair down and is actually quite threatening. The scene in which Thompson
confronts Irons in a church is a pleasure to watch and we are once again
reminded of what a great actress she is.
Visually, the film is excellent.
The final show down, set against a backdrop of a re-enactment of the Civil War,
is very well done and although the gothic costumes may seem a little cliché,
they look beautiful. Some of the graphics are genuinely creepy and some younger
viewers may find Sarafine’s appearance at Ethan’s house frightening. The sense
that Ethan is trapped in the community is also convincing – everyone knows
everyone else and his favourite place is a spot where he can gaze at the road
leading out of town. Ethan’s character is very relatable in his desires.
This film is engaging, and the
dreadful Southern accents only grated on me for a little while. The
relationship between Lena and Ethan is believable, although perhaps more time
should have been given over to the development of their love, making their apparently
enduring passion more plausible. However, the intimacy between the two leads is
excellent and at times I couldn’t help but feel that I was intruding on a
private moment of theirs. Ehrenreich is certainly a charismatic leading man.
Yes, there are of course some
problems with the film, but overall this is an excellently written, well-acted,
rom-com with a fantasy twist that should not be dismissed because of the
audience it has been written for. There are moments of genuine humour, and at
the centre of the narrative is a good heart and a good story… and hopefully the
lead character’s choice of reading material will encourage viewers to explore the
texts themselves.
Comments
Post a Comment