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If you're a fan of the Beautiful Creatures series of young adult novels (also known as the Caster Chronicles), it's quite possible you've already seen the movie adaptation. If not, prepare yourself, because Beautiful Creatures is new on DVD and what you get is not entirely what you got in the book. A lot of changes were made to adapt this best-selling YA book for the big screen, and not all of them were good changes.

I've read the first two novels in the Caster series, and I actually really enjoyed them both. No, they aren't deep literature meant to inspire. They're just fun, Southern gothic supernatural stories. Let me make one thing really clear, just in case you are wondering: Beautiful Creatures is not Twilight. There are no sparkling vampires, but yeah, there is a love story. It's not nearly as flat-out silly as the Edward and Bellla mess in the Twilight movies.

Hope that helps. I think most of us expect any and all YA book adaptations to follow in the Twilight-ed footsteps of the Hollywood blockbuster series. It's hard to blame the studios for wanting to cash in on the popularity, but it's terribly irritating for those of us who know better.

Okay, let's discuss the Beautiful Creatures movie, shall we? As I mentioned, some major changes were made to get this movie in theaters, one of them being the decision to combine the roles of Amma (Viola Davis in the film) and that of Marian Ashcroft, the keeper of the Caster library. Personally, I don't like that they left out Marian, as I felt she was most definitely a key character in the novel. Boo on that decision, though I do like Viola Davis' portrayal in the film.

As far as the acting goes? I give props to relative newcomers Alice Englert as Lena Duchannes and Alden Ehrenreich as Ethan Wate. The fact that this movie works at all, on any level, is because they were quite good in their roles. Emmy Rossum also get a pass, because she played the sexy, tormenting dark Caster Ridley Duchannes with gusto. But wow, the level of over acting by Emma Thompson is just ridiculous. IF you haven't read the book or seen the film, I won't say more than that, but yikes. I expected much more from her, I really did.

Jeremy Irons does a nice job as Macon Ravenwood, and his demeanor fits the character perfectly. Again, major changes were made concerning his character, but I think that was simply a time constraint issue. It's one reason why I often can't stand the book-to-film adaptations anyway.

Overall, Beautiful Creatures isn't the worst adaptation of a fun YA novel I've ever seen, but it's sure not The Hunger Games. If you're a big fan, just go in knowing that this might not feel familiar in spots.

Any other fans of Beautiful Creatures care to weigh in here? I'd love to hear what you thought about the movie.

Photo courtesy of Film.com