Movie Review: Something New - An Aurora Teagarden Mystery

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Solid mystery and cast

Cons: Fans of the franchise will be disappointed

The Bottom Line:

A vanishing groom

With characters that we know

So does not quite work

“Do Not Worry.  I Do Not Plan on Making a Habit out of This Sort of Things.”

I was but wasn’t surprised when Hallmark announced they were going to continue with the Aurora Teagarden mysteries.  The series was one of their more popular mystery franchises, and one of their longest running.  The idea of doing mysteries with a young Aurora was intriguing, so I tune in to Something New, the first of the new era for the series.  While the mystery was solid, it ran into some of the issues I was expecting.

The Aurora we meet here (Skyler Samuels takes over the role) is already obsessed with true crime, but she’s only a graduate student in library science.  She has moved back home to complete her studies, meaning she has moved back in with her mother, Aida (Marilu Henner, the only returning actor in this movie).

This movie finds Aurora preparing to be the maid of honor for her best friend Sally (Kayla Heller).  A few days before the wedding, the groom, Matt, (Madison Smith) disappears.  A frantic Sally asks Aurora to look into what happened.  Aurora visit’s Matt’s apartment with an off-duty Arthur (Evan Roderick), and they find a dead body outside.  Only the victim isn’t Matt.  Has something happened to Matt?  If not, is he a killer?

As I said, the mystery was solid.  I was very interested in learning just what was going on here, and the story progressed logically.  When we reached the end, which included a couple of twists, everything was resolved.

If this was your first introduction to Aurora, I’m sure you’d be fine.  My issue was the fact that we already know these characters, having watched eighteen previous movies with them.  As a result, some things lost their suspense.  It was just a matter of figuring out how they would happen instead of wondering exactly what would happen next.  And I’m very curious why they tried to set up a romantic triangle for Aurora since we know where her love life will ultimately go.  It was also awkward writing around Sally’s parents not being on screen since we haven’t seen those actors in a long time now.

My other issue was trying to watch new actors in familiar roles.  Don’t get me wrong, none of the actors did a bad job.  But I felt like Skyler Samuels was the only one who came close to capturing what Aurora might have been like as a young adult.  The other two recast actors didn’t feel like their predecessors to me.  Again, that’s because the actors had the almost impossible tasks of taking over for someone we already know and love in the role; it is not a slight on them at all.

Honestly, this movie would have been better if they had presented it as the start of a new franchise.  Give all of the characters new names, and I’m fully on board.  In fact, my biggest issues with the movie would be gone.  Especially since I found this movie light on the low budget issues that often plague Hallmark movies.

Fans of Hallmark mysteries will recognize Steve Bacic, who plays Detective Cook, as the husband of Lori Loughlin’s character in the Garage Sale Mysteries franchise.  It was fun to see him again, but I especially enjoyed the connection since Aurora was originally played by Candace Cameron Bure, who costarred with Lori on Full House.

This is one new (I guess I should say revived) franchise from Hallmark that I hope doesn’t continue.  Give this cast a new franchise all their own, and I’m there.  But the pitfalls of building Something New for Aurora from this point are too many to work for fans.