So, I had a major first this weekend. A couple of them. I took my eight-year-old daughter to see Beautiful Creatures, which was her first PG-13 movie. Like any conscientious parent, I checked out any references to drugs and sex before I took her, but if I’m going to be totally honest, I wanted to see it and needed a date. But my major “first” had less to do with my bad parenting milestones and much more to do with the movie.

This weekend was the first time I ever liked a movie more than the book.

I know, Friends of the ABC, I was shocked too.

That never happens to me. I have a friend who once told me he knows if we start talking about a movie, within the first five minutes I will say, “But the book was so much better.” I don’t mind being that predictable; it’s the freaking truth.

Until this movie. And considering Beautiful Creatures didn’t do too well its opening weekend, I feel obligated to defend the first movie ever to beat the book. When Ethan first meets Lena, she’s reading a book and he asks her, “Is it any good?” Her response, “Define good.” So … let’s.
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6 Reasons Beautiful Creatures (the movie) Defines Good

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Some Top Shelf Performances by Supporting Actors

I’ll admit. When I first saw the trailer, I hadn’t read the book and my reaction was, “How did this movie get made? It looks ridiculous and Emma Thompson? Viola Davis? What kind of hoo-doo got worked on them to get them in this suckfest?” But turns out it makes perfect sense because THEY WERE AMAZING (of course – they are Oscar winning badasses). And I don’t even think I can talk about Jeremy Irons. He was spooky and debonair and perfect as Uncle Macon. I mean we’re talking Royal Shakespeare Company, Henry IV playing, Humbert Humbert creeping, UNCLE SCAR awesome. A movie with that stellar a supporting cast deserves its clout.

It Made More Sense

I enjoyed the book, but there were some convoluted plot points that thankfully, the screenwriters chunked. The screenplay and the dialogue were tight and concise. I don’t want to give anything away, but the climax of the movie was completely rewritten from the book. It was tense and heartbreaking and about a million times more interesting than the same scenes are originally. I keep seeing these fans of the book wailing about all the tiny details that are missing, but trust me, it was a WAY more heart-wrenching way to go.

I have really just always wanted to use this gif.

Really Hot Kisses

This movie is a ROMANCE. And I mean knock-you-over hot romance. Forget for a second that it’s YA and idiot critics keep comparing it to Twilight. It’s HOT. WAY hotter than Twilight’s plethora of forehead kisses. Better than the non-existent chemistry in The Hunger Games. My daughter even said, “Wow. They kiss too much in this movie.” Yes, keep thinking that, dear, for another ten years. Mommy will think the opposite. Let me illustrate with just a small sampling.

(Um, I need a minute.)

Alice Englert is Awesome

I don’t know where this girl came from, but her performance as Lena Duchannes was honest and intriguing and complex. She was fully believable as a 15 year old girl trying to figure herself out while falling in love and having the world on her shoulders. I was seriously impressed with her. And look how CUTE she is!

Maybe the Sexiest Smirk Ever

Okay, okay. What sealed this movie for me was Ethan Wate himself, Alden Ehrenreich. The book is refreshingly told from Ethan’s point of view. It’s wonderful to read the boy’s perspective in a YA novel, but I gotta say – Alden’s performance will make you FALL IN LOVE with Ethan. Open, funny, real, gorgeous, vulnerable. His chemistry with Alice is phenomenal. You haven’t seen a smirk like this one since … well since a certain lunch room scene.

THAT ENDING.

Yes, it was a total turn from the book. But if that ending doesn’t make you need the next movie RIGHT NOW, then you are missing part of your heart. Just whoa. Ok, I need to see it again right now because … well.