'Beautiful Creatures' - Not a pretty sight, but passable..

While 'Beautiful Creatures' has an interesting enough premise and was obviously made to capitalize on the 'Twilight' series, it struggles from a plodding, confusing plot, stilted and boring dialogue as well as clumsy direction. Which is too bad with a stellar cast that boasts the likes of Jeremy Irons, Emma Thompson and Viola Davis it should have been campy fun.

Don't get me wrong, both Emma Thompson and Jeremy Irons bring in their full on hammed up personas to the film. The leads, Alden Ehrenreich as the lovelorn Ethan and Alice Englert as the 'caster' Lena, are equally likable and have a solid chemistry; but all that combined isn't enough to overcome the terrible script and direction from writer/director Richard LaGravenese.

I will be the first to admit that I have not read the 'Beautiful Creatures' series from authors Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl; that being said, the movie should be able to stand on it's own. It is my sincere hope that the authors think long and hard in their approval or selection for the next writer/director in the inevitable sequel (although the movie barely lasted a week or so in theaters, you may have to find it at the $1.00 show).

The premise is interesting enough and the backdrop of an ancient race of 'casters' (another word for witches) seems to make a compelling tale that could span ages. 'Beautiful Creatures' certainly does have all of the potential and making of a simply marvelous, gothic romance piece; it was the execution of the material that really failed. As I mentioned earlier, the cast had all of the talent and even screen chemistry - they were simply failed by the script and poor direction.

I think I might have to go pick up the series and see if it was the writing or the interpretation that was at fault. For now; I am going to suggest waiting for Redbox to release the DVD in the next couple of weeks; I am assuming they are going to have to rush this to DVD to recoup some of the budget of this 2 star start to a franchise.