Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on November 2013

The clunky plot in this blatant, southern-fried Twilight cash-in clone has this literary jock kid falling for the new girl in school. It then transpires that she’s a witch, see, but we won’t know if she’ll be a light witch or a dark one until her approaching 16th birthday. Or something. Either the film doesn’t really grasp or can’t be bothered to explain its own pseudo-lore. What does it mean to be claimed by the dark? Pretty ho-hum stuff for non-target ‘tweeners. Fortunately, pedigreed Brit actors Jeremy Irons and Emma Thompson liven things up with their inspired, honey-dripped scenery-chewing. (125 min)