Whilst it is true that I have a very low opinion of this film I would suggest that I am not part of the target audience (I am guessing 12 year old girls)
The film starts with I am Number 4 star Alex Pettyfer working out without a shirt on (A look he would continue throughout the film.) He plays Kyle Who is the son of a famous News Anchor, He is young, rich and good looking, in the first big scene he is running for Green Committee President with a speech which I would translate as "You're all ugly, I am rich and handsome so do as you're told and vote for me." I think this is called doing a Blair or style over substance. He then tells his pugly classmates to "Embrace the Suck" and vote for him – I admit I had to look up Embrace the Suck which I am reliably informed by the Urban Dictionary is a military term for having to do a job that you feel is pointless, I guess the US are letting too many 12 year olds into the military.
Anyway his speech angers the school "Witch" who it turns out is an actual witch so after deciding to set her up for some public humiliation he is turned into a beast (The beast make up is possibly the one thing that this film does correctly as it is quite a gruesome look including several slashes with metal pins visible inside them which left me wishing someone would stitch them up. The look however isn't really added to by the addition of several tattoos which being a life choice rather than a disfigurement don't really add to any sympathy but rather make you think – You already had your entire face tattooed so why should we care that there are cuts on top. But that aside the effect is still off putting a few skin graphs however would have been a bit better for some real disfigurement. The witch played by Mary Kate Olson (Still trying to throw off the Olson Twin persona) is more an excuse to dress up in Neo-Gothic club wear than a cogent part of the film. The actors in this film however are the one saving grace as they struggle under the weight of a ridiculously repeated story with nothing new added at all and the terrible script mostly held by Pettyfer who must have really started to regret his choices.
The beauty to Pettyfer's beast is Lindy, played by Vanessa Hudgens (Who is starting to become more famous for leaked "personal" images than for her High School Musical role) She acted well enough however the fact that her character who is working to keep her place at the exclusive academy and spends her evenings (after school and work) taking food to the homeless – assumingly all to prove that she is a lot deeper than the usual shallow high school girl – falls for the Rich kid long before he has even an ounce of humility during the two times they spoke prior to his transformation is quite out of keeping with the character they are building, after his transformation Kyle Starts to stalk Lindy in what did start to feel a little bit disturbing, how far do you go to show that you like someone? following them home? following them out in the evening? knocking them out and keeping them in a small cage? He did all of these – Ok, not the last one but it felt like he was getting close. He did however blackmail her father into sending her to his house.
Star act goes to the always good Neil Patrick Harris, Doogie Howser to those of us over 30, who plays Ryan's? blind tutor however he is not on the screen nearly enough to make his part contribute to the enjoyability of the movie.
Overall this film takes an unlikeable looks obsessed boy and shows that he has changed by making him fall for Vanessa Hudgens (Ranked the 54th most beautiful woman in the world by Maxim) guess that will really make him learn his lesson. But the holes are almost entirely related to the weak story and laughable script, the cast should really only been criticised for one thing – agreeing to be in the film in the first place.
