Beautiful Creatures

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Paul, Kelly, Belinda

The most important thing this film has going for it is the two leads, neither of whom I've seen before, who actually manage to create a believable relationship and one that you want to root for succeeding. Unlike Twilight, it's a relationship between two warm and charming kids which makes all the difference. Despite all the fantasy supernatural visual effect overload, it's still more believable than Safe Haven.

And they assembled a supporting cast with a hell of a pedigree. Everything Emma Thompson does just delighted me to no end. Big characters allows for some big choices and they seem to revel in it all, which only Michael Sheen managed to do in the Twilight series.

It's hard not to compare the two, but as witnessed by no less than 5 of the trailers before the feature, this is just the first of many many teen supernatural romances to come. That series really was a monster and will have a lot to answer for. At least it's not hard to improve upon. And Beautiful Creatures does that in spades.

I doubt we'll seen any of the other books turned into films but contrary to my fears they made this one self contained and it works beautifully as a stand alone, unlike so many of the kids fantasy novel adaptation boom of the 00's that ended with unsatisfying cliffhangers, never to be continued.

The film looks beautiful. The characters are big, the romance is sincere, it has humor, it's fun and entertaining. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. If you love your teen romance or even if you can just stomach them, this one won't offend nearly as much as past titles.