Review of Beauty and the Beast (2017) by Erica E — 01 Jun 2017

Overwhelming for the senses, but underwhelming for the heart. Overall, the film is an enjoyable tribute to its original. Well-casted, Emma Watson is Belle incarnate, so she had to do little in the way of acting.

Luke Evans impressed as Gaston, balanced well by Josh Gad. The actors voicing CGI characters did well to bring life to their respective characters. The film was beautiful, showing great depth in color and detail; however, quick sweeping shots never allowed the camera or the audience to focus on the grandeur of the scenes.

Additionally, to much attention was given to technically enhance the singing, and the voices often sound too auto-tuned. Moreover, the story somehow fell flat emotionally. It lacked those moments where you forget you are in a movie and fall whole-heartedly into the story.

Maybe it got caught up in its own splendor; maybe it was too great a task to complete. This film is like the Beast - if you can see through the visual flaws, a relatively brilliant gem shines within.