Beautiful Creatures film review!

My thoughts on the 'Beautiful Creatures' film!

I read Beautiful Creatures quite a while ago now and when I heard a film was being made...I was beyond excited I just...can't even remember how I possibly coped!
I am a huuuuuge fan of the Beautiful Creatures series but the film...had it's good and BAD points!

GOOD POINTS!
-The chemistry between Lena (Alice Englert) and Ethan (Alden Ehrenreich) was amazing! <3 without a doubt, their relationship on screen was flawless. I also watched several interviews with them and they also have great chemistry off screen so no wonder they were perfect on screen.
-Every character was casted perfectly! Especially Macon Ravenwood (Jeremy Irons) and Mrs. Linkin/Sarafine (Emma Thompson). And I also LOVED Ridley (Emmy Rossum). She was so beautiful and just perfect for the role of Ridley! They were all perfect, really! If I could picture the characters in the book looking like anyone, it would definitely be these people.
-The scenery was brilliant! When I first saw Ravenwood, I cried. I couldn't of pictured it any better and to see this place brought to life...it was really emotional! Also the Lunae Libri was too perfect for words! (...this is why I would be terrible at real reviews because I can't describe things without using 'amazing' and 'brilliant' or 'perfect'..)
-I really loved all the special effects! One of my favourite scenes was probably the dinner scene when the room was spinning and the table was spinning! I was freaking out thinking how utterly AWESOME that was! And how Ridley flew out the window...oh my gosh! Brilliant!
-THE ACCENTS! Oh my gosh! They were all...well, for a lack of a better word PERFECT! I was expecting some flaws but OH NO! They were all brilliant! Definitely true Gatlin folk! ;D

Now, I hate to do this but...
BAD POINTS!
-Amma. Now, don't get me wrong here! Viola Davis was the best Amma ever! I thought she was great and what I'm about to say is nothing to do with her, but...what happened to her character? In the book, Amma is portrayed as, definitely a caring guardian for Ethan, but she is also very strong-willed, quite harsh/strict and...quite scary in some scenes. In the film, she was still caring, but had NONE of the qualities the book version of Amma had which...disappointed me a bit in all honestly.
-I know they can't include everything in the film, but for me, there wasn't enough of Link and Ridley's relationship. I for one, LOVE their relationship! But in the film, you didn't get any of how Link really felt for Ridley (even though she is a siren) he still really adored her and their only scenes in the film was scenes of them involved in intimate ways which...also disappointed me a bit.
-In the book, Lena never used her powers to make Ethan forget her! I don't know why that was included and I don't understand the relevance of that because he remembers her right at the very end, so...why?
Ethan and Lena were involved to the end of the book so...why not that way in the film? That I really did not understand and I didn't like that at all.
Also, relating to the same point, SIX MONTHS...I repeat...SIX MONTHS passed of Ethan not knowing him and Lena were romantically involved and I just can't believe that. SIX(freaking)MONTHS...when I saw that writing at the bottom of the screen...that caused me to cry too because that DID NOT HAPPEN!
-Also, I am unsure of Macon Ravenwood's death. In the book, his brother Hunting killed him and (if I remember rightly) he, or his spirit in some form, got trapped inside an Arclight (if that is the correct name) and he returns in the...second book, right?
But in the film, he disguises himself as Ethan and takes Link's bullet (which also DID NOT happen in the book) and he died that way. I know there was no evidence in the book that would hint the use of an Arclight, but I'm really unsure if his death was real...or if he will return somehow...I'm confused and also disappointed about that.
-Ethan. In the book, he dies (momentarily) because Sarafine stabs him (NOT because Ridley influenced Link to create a bullet and shoot him). That also causes Lena to repeat Genevieve's actions and use The Book of Moons to bring Ethan back to life which works but also THAT is why Lena goes unclaimed, not because she dealt with Sarafine the way she did in the film.
-The songs also were not included.
I know, once again, it's hard to cover everything but I was really looking forward to finally hearing what those songs sounded like!
-We also never saw Ethan's dad. Yes, in the book Ridley attempts to kill Ethan's father by using her siren powers to influence him and I can admit that wouldn't really be necessary in the film but we could of at least seen him once! Because he did reveal himself a couple of times in the book, but the film? Not once. It could of been as simple as him showing up for the breakfast Ethan made at the beginning of the film or something along those lines.
-Also one more thing I found slightly strange was that Marian (the Keeper of the Lunae Libri) was cut out from the film entirely. Instead, the Keeper was Amma. Marian and Ethan had such a sweet relationship in the book since she was a good friend of his Mother's, Lila but...she wasn't in the film?
The more the film progressed though, the more I became OK with that fact because in Beautiful Chaos, quite a huge story line involving Marian occurs which would be very difficult to include in the film, but it was still a shame for her character to be excluded from the film.

Now, I know it sounds like I am really slamming the film and claiming it to be awful, but I assure you...I am not.
I am just sharing my opinions with parts that I loved and the parts I was disappointed in (mostly being the ending of the film not following the book at all).
But to end this review, I will say that I am still super happy this book was made into a film! And I did enjoy it very, VERY much even though I had a number of bad points to share :)
I know the authors were involved greatly, so they must know what they are doing so...I'm hoping they have a plan to bring the truth from the books back through into the second film, Beautiful Darkness.
But overall, thoroughly enjoyed this film. I really got into it and I adored the cast and the main story was still covered.
I really recommend this film to fans of the books and also to people who may not have read them yet in the hope this film will inspire them too!

I saaaay...4 out of 5! <3 ...not sure why 5, but...well..WHY not? :,)
I hope you enjoyed reading this review and if you have seen the film, leave a comment telling me your favourite parts and parts you felt weren't covered enough.
And if you haven't seen the film yet, leave a comment telling me if you are planning to and what you are hoping to see!

Once again, I hope you enjoyed this review!
BYESIES~! xoxo