Actors: Alden Ehrenreich, Alice Englert, Jeremy Irons, Viola Davis, Emmy Rossum
Directors: Richard Lagravenese
Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Release Date: May 21, 2013
Run Time: 124 minutes
Film: 2 out of 5 stars
Extras: 3 out of 5 stars
Ever since “The Twilight Saga” has been done, Hollywood has been searching for the next “Twilight”. “Beautiful Creatures” is the latest in a long line of recent YA book adaptations to film. I have to admit, I have seen the “Twilight” films and I enjoyed them all (except “Breaking Dawn: Part 1”). Ever since I saw the trailers for “Beautiful Creatures”, I thought it was going to be very painful to watch…and I was right. The film runs over two hours long and it really drags hard. Jeremy Irons is always a pleasure to watch on the big screen but he hides his fantastic accent with a not so fantastic Southern one. The rest of the cast is a quite a bore, especially our two leads. Fans of the YA book series might enjoy and some female tweens but otherwise steer clear.
Official Premise: When newcomer Lena Duchannes arrives in the small town of Gatlin she quickly captures the attention of Ethan Wate, who only wants to escape what he views as a boring and dead end town. He quickly gets more than he bargained for, as Lena possesses strange powers that have long kept her at a distance from others in her life. Lena and Ethan are drawn together, but their budding romance is threatened by the dangers posed by Lena’s being a Caster and her family’s Dark powers, for upon her sixteenth birthday Lena must undergo the Claiming, a process that will decide her fate forever: Light or Dark.
I have to say no matter if I like the film or not Warner Bros delivered a nice Blu-ray presentation amongst its Blu-ray + DVD + Ultraviolet digital copy combo pack. The 1080p transfer looks sharp and works well with the visual effects. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track works with the action and the film’s score. The special features are not too bad either and are very featurette drive. There are a few deleted scenes, but not sure how this film could have been longer. The featurettes included are “Book to Screen”, “The Casters”, “Between Two Worlds”, “Forbidden Romance”, “Alternate Worlds” and “Designing the Costumes”. There is nice coverage here over the whole production with cast and crew. Lastly there are Theatrical Trailers and a Book Trailer: “Icons” by Margaret Stohl included.
Beautiful Creatures available on Blu-Ray 5/21/13 at WB Shop http://bit.ly/Xo9tAW
