Movie v. Book - Beautiful Creatures

Ethan longs to escape his small Southern town. He meets a mysterious new girl, Lena. Together, they uncover dark secrets about their respective families, their history and their town.

Director: Richard LaGravenese

Writers: Richard LaGravenese (screenplay), Kami Garcia(based on the novel "Beautiful Creatures" by)

Stars: Alden Ehrenreich, Alice Englert, Viola Davis

I had heard that this was the next Twilight, which interested me, so I read the book only to discover that it was a series of books, and got completely absorbed by the story so much that I almost forgot what the first book was about by the time I got around to seeing the movie!

Book or Movie: The movie is not terrible, I vote book on this one - but by a nose.

Spoilers after the jump:

What I didn't like:

• Alden Ehrenreich does not look like the Ethan I pictured, but he won me over.
• Ethan spoke in a Southern accent - he didn't in the books, and that was a big thing because his mother taught him to speak properly.
• Mrs. Lincoln is in too much of the movie - probably because she's played by Emma Thompson.
• They combined Marian and Amma's characters - I really, really hated this.
• Lena doesn't drive a hearse.
• No Boo Radley.

What I liked:

• Alden and Alice Englert have some awesome chemistry.
• The southern gothic look of the town is spot on.
• Ravenswood is perfect; the look inside and out, how the look changes, everything. They totally got it right.
• Jeremy Irons could not have been more perfect for Uncle Macon. He is the epitome of the spooky southern gentleman (even if he is British).
• Most of the special effects are good, except for the thing with Sarafine at the end - that was dumb.

This movie got terrible reviews, but I think it was mostly due to the fact that it was being marketed as the next Twilight. This story stands up on its own, and doesn't need to be the next anything. The books were not as popular as the Twilight books, so there was no reason to market the movie that way. The movie did jump ahead a lot, and had one not read the books, one could get lost, I think. The movie didn't explain things properly, as if they assumed you had read the book. It was definitely not made with the non-reader in mind. There were things that happened in the movie that you would only understand if you read the book. The combination of Amma/Marian was confusing. The whole purpose of the Caster Library was not explained, and the story of Genevieve and Ethan Carter Wate was not fleshed out. There just weren't enough details in the movie, and it went too fast. They were trying to cram too much book into the movie, and in the process left way too much out. It also seemed like they were only going to make one movie when I was watching it, but then the movie ended with a cliff hanger, so I think that they were maybe trying to do a series. I don't think they will now, because the movie was not that popular.