By Ellen Pham,  Chamberlain High
Grade: ***, 3/5 asterisks

Several films have been cashing in on the Twilight premise, where mythical creatures combine with an abnormal romance; Beautiful Creatures is no different. Similar to the infamous vampire saga, Beautiful Creatures originated from a popular novel and features an unlikely relationship between a mortal and a fantasy character. But this time around, the guy plays the human and instead of a hunky, reserved vampire, a conflicted witch dominates the screen.

Ethan Wates (Alden Ehrenreich) lives a mundane life until he meets Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert), a mysterious girl he is automatically drawn to. Ethan discovers that Lena belongs to a family of casters (people with the ability to generate spells) and that Lena’s 16th birthday marks the day when she is consumed by either the dark or the light.

This leads to a lukewarm, lengthy story of how Lena deals with her impending magical fate. She attempts to push Ethan away, fearing that prevailing evil forces will take control of her while her family members try to encourage her to the side that is supposedly superior. She’s indecisive. She’s blinded by love. She’s trying to fit in. All of these actions are typical of a standard teenage girl. But did Richard LaGravenese (P.S. I Love You, Freedom Writers) really need a little more than two hours to express that?

Ehrenreich and Englert are both newcomers to the industry. The chemistry between the two is there, but it could be stronger. With time and patience, any future installments in the Caster Chronicles I hope will acquire a more passionate connection between the characters. Englert is rather impressive in her big-screen debut. She possesses a radiant allure in her presence and acting; I’m interested to see how her career unfolds. Ehrenreich seems less comfortable with his character. There’s an understandable stiffness to his delivery and lack of charisma in comparison with Englert.

Beautiful Creatures tries to fill the supernatural void left after the Harry Potter and Twilight series wrapped up, but it leaves a lot of empty space.

Director: Richard LaGravenese              
Cast: Alice Englert, Viola Davis, Emma Thompson
Running time: 2 hours and 4 minutes
Rating: PG-13