Review of Beauty and the Beast (2017) by Antony P — 03 May 2017

"Disney's new take on the tale as old as time maybe old and not as magical as it's animated ancestor but the 2017 live-action remake of "Beauty and the Beast" still contains some of the good songs and lively spirit from the 1991 original.".

Movie Review: Beauty and the Beast (2017).

Date Viewed: March 21 2017.

Directed By Bill Condon (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Parts 1 & 2, Dreamgirls, Kinsey, Gods and Monsters, Mr. Holmes and The Fifth Estate).

Screenplay By Stephen Chbosky and Evan Spiliotopoulos, Based on Disney's "Beauty and the Beast".

Starring: Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Josh Gad, Kevin Kline, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Ian McKellen, Emma Thompson, Audra McDonald, Guru Mbatha-Raw, Hattie Morahan, Nathan Mack, Adrian Schiller, Gerard Horan, Haydn Gwynne, Ray Fearon, Sophie Reid and Zoe Rainey.

Disney's new take on the tale as old as time maybe old and not as magical as it's animated ancestor but the 2017 live-action remake of "Beauty and the Beast" still contains some of the good songs and lively spirit from the 1991 original. It's visually bright and beautiful but director Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters, Dreamgirls, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Parts 1 & 2, Mr. Holmes) never captures the magical wonder from the original. Nevertheless, it is still a good musical with an enchanting performance from Emma Watson as Belle and it is a gorgeous live-action take of a Disney animated classic.

This is the story you all heard before from various fairy tales and romance novels, a man turns into a horrendous beast, he must learn his matters and find true love again. In a prologue story, which wasn't featured in the animated "Beauty and the Beast", a young prince (Dan Stevens) enjoys his lavish life as he gets peppered with beautiful mistresses but one night when a old beggar woman knocks on his door and gives him a rose in exchange for shelter from a terrible storm he refuses. Suddenly, she places a curse on the prince which transforms him into a horrendous beast and his house servants into household objects.

The old beggar woman also gives the Beast a magic mirror that shows him faraway events and in order to break the spell he must find a woman he can truly love. If the last pedal on that rose falls off, the prince will remain a Beast forever. That's when Belle (Watson) comes in, a young woman who lives in the village of Villeneuve with her artist and tinkerer father, Maurice (Kevin Kline).

A celebrated former soldier named Gaston (Luke Evans) hopes to marry Belle one day but she refuses his advances. When Maurice and his horse, Philippe get lost in the forest, they get attacked by wolves but they manage to escape and run into an old castle. Maurice seeks refuge there but he gets imprisoned by the Beast. When Belle starts to worry about her father, she seeks out to find him. When she does locate the castle, Belle finds her father in the castle's dungeon but the Beast confronts her. Belle begs the Beast to let her father go, he will do so but only if she stays here forever in his place. She accepts the offer and Maurice is devastated.

She may now have to endure gruelling conditions but she befriends the Beast's household servants which include the golden candlestick known as Lumière (Ewan McGregor), the mantel clock, Cogsworth (Ian McKellen), Mrs. Potts (Emma Thompson) and a peacock-shaped feather duster named Plumette (Gugu Mbatha-Raw).

They warn her that the west wing of the castle is forbidden but she goes anyway and she finds the rose which is encased with glass. The Beast comes charging in at Belle and warns her to never come into this room but a now panicked and frightened Belle goes fleeing into the woods and she gets stopped by the same pack of wolves that attacked her father. Of course the Beast comes in and saves her and what do you know? They really start to develop a relationship.

The Beast's servants believe that Belle maybe the one to break the curse and as a gift for her kind service, the Beast allows Belle to access his library which contains a mass collection of books. After sharing the famous romantic ballroom dance together, Belle unfortunately has to get back and help her father because the magic mirror reveals that he is in trouble. When he tries to convince the townspeople that his daughter is being held prisoner by a big, horrendous beast, the whole village laughs at him and they don't believe him so now they plan to send him to the nuthouse but Belle comes back and convinces the village that the Beast is real thanks to the magic mirror. Instead of playing nice to the Beast, Gaston uses this opportunity to kill the Beast and hopefully win Belle's heart. Yeah, like that's going to happen.

Let's talk about the gay subplot involving Gaston's sidekick, LeFou played by Josh Gad, he has a supposed gay moment in the film which was enough to cry out anti-gay sentiment from Russia, Kuwait, Malaysia and the state of Alabama. While Russia didn't flat out ban the film, it was given a 16+ rating which is really absurd. You were threatening to ban a film just because it had a supposed homosexual scene? Give a break.

The production design, the costumes and the visuals are beautiful all around but what's missing in this new "Beauty and the Beast" is substance and a reason to care. Yes, this is a fabulous retelling of a lovely Disney animated classic but it doesn't have the same soda and juice as the 1991 original which became the first animated feature to be nominated for Best Picture. The voice-over work is fine and Dan Stevens (in a mostly motion-capture performance) does a good job here as the Beast and he captures his roar and fierceness.

Remaking their old animated classics seems to be the ultimate cash cow for Disney but of course they also own the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars. I really loved the live-action "Jungle Book" remake from last year so nobody can top that Disney retelling in terms of story and emotional value. This reimagining of "Beauty and the Beast" is only so-so for me. It doesn't mean it's a bad movie or a mixed bag, it's just that it didn't need to be remade again. The 1991 "Beauty and the Beast" was one of the best Disney animated films ever made so don't expect to hear the same critical praise and love for this live-action, big-budget retelling of this timely tale.