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The just of
the story remains true for both, Ethan Wate longs to escape his small Southern
town of Gatlin. Mysterious new girl Lena arrives and the two are drawn together
by turbulent elements, as they uncover dark secrets about their respective
families, their history and their town. But so much of their story is glossed
over, that it leaves behind a unsatisfying one that feels a bit flat.
They only
touch on the abuse Lena receives at the hands of her classmates for being Macon
Ravenwood’s niece. Not to mention Ethan’s total abandonment by his basketball
team. Both factors that helped reinforce their bond. Instead it plays out as a
couple of random acts of meaness by the school’s queen bee and her lackey. Sure
Lena is almost suspended from school after the shattering of a window, but
really the girls are easy enough to ignore. They aren’t the same girls who form
the Guardian Angels, or the ones who orchestrate a Carrie-esque soap dousing
that ruins Lena’s first dance.
And those
aren’t the only parts changed. Certain elements are altogether missing from the
movie: the shadowing song, Lena’s family powers, Ethan’s mom, Marian. I could
go on and on, but there’s really no point in it. Although some changes, like
the color of Savannah Snow’s hair, didn’t impact the story, one most glaring
spot involved the Curse. The curse was front and center, in both, but the movie
omitted what would happen if Lena chose light or dark, as if being dark was the
worse thing possible.
So what if
Lena turns dark and all the casters after her are dark? Macon is dark, proving
that you didn’t have to be a homicidal maniac if you were dark. You could chose
to be good. And what about Aunt Del and Gramma? As women in the family they
should be dark, and they seemed fairly normal. Oh right, that was a fact that
wasn’t mentioned, they’re actually light, many family members are. But I’m
getting ahead of myself. In the books Lena’s choice killed the entire other side
of the family. Huh. That would make one think twice about choosing, and open up
a whole other can of worms for the next movie.
It was the
lack of foresight that had Macon sacrificing himself and Amma as the librarian,
and Sarafine amounting to being barely a blip on the threat meter. Where were
her fires, her knife. She comes off as whiny and childish, and that’s
unfortunate. Beautiful Creatures had great potential, and a phenomenal cast,
but not even they can save this sinking ship.
If you haven’t
read the books, you’ll enjoy the movie. The actors did what they could with the
script, and the special effects are really well done. See the movie long before
you read the book, and you’ll have a more enjoyable experience. Beautiful
Creatures came to DVD May 21, 2013.
