Review of Beauty and the Beast (2017) by Greedybadidea — 25 May 2020

An enchantress disguised as an old beggar woman arrives at a castle during a ball and offers the host, a cruel and selfish prince, a rose in return for shelter from a storm. When he refuses, she reveals her identity. As punishment for the prince's lack of compassion, the enchantress transforms him into a beast and his servants into household objects, then erases the castle, himself and his servants from the memories of their loved ones and everyone else in the town. She casts a spell on the rose and warns the prince that the spell will only be broken if he learns to love another, and earn their love in return before the last petal falls, or he will remain a beast forever.

Some years later, in the small town of Villeneuve, Belle, the book-loving daughter of an inventor named Maurice, dreams of adventure. She constantly brushes off advances from Gaston, an arrogant former soldier, as he is not the type of man Belle wishes to marry. On Maurice's way to a convention and lost in the forest, he seeks refuge in the Beast's castle, but the Beast imprisons him for stealing a rose from his garden as a gift to Belle. When Maurice's horse returns without him, Belle ventures out in search for him, and finds him locked in the castle dungeon. Belle tricks both her father and the Beast by asking for a simple hug goodbye from her father, she pushes him out and locks herself in the dungeon. The Beast agrees to let her take her father's place and forces Maurice to leave immediately.

Belle befriends the castle's servants; candelabra footman Lumiere, clock majordomo Cogsworth, featherduster maid Plummette, teapot housekeeper Mrs Potts, and her teacup son Chip. They invite her to a spectacular dinner. When she wanders into the forbidden west wing and finds the rose, the Beast scares her into the woods. Belle is ambushed by a pack of wolves, but the Beast rescues her, becoming injured in the process. As Belle nurses his wounds, a spark develops between them. The Beast shows Belle a gift from the enchantress, a book that transports readers wherever they want. Belle uses the book to visit her childhood home in Paris, where she discovers a plague doctor mask and realizes that she and her father were forced to leave when her mother succumbed to the plague.

In Villeneuve, Maurice fails to convince the other villagers of the Beast and Belle's imprisonment. Gaston, seeing rescuing Belle as an opportunity to win her hand in marriage, agrees to help Maurice. When Maurice learns of his ulterior motive and rejects him, Gaston abandons him to be eaten by the wolves. Maurice is rescued by the town hermit Agathe, but when he tells the townsfolk of Gaston's crime and is unable to provide solid evidence, Gaston convinces them to send Maurice to an insane asylum.

After sharing a romantic dance with the Beast, Belle discovers her father's predicament using a magic mirror. The Beast releases her to save Maurice, giving her the mirror to remember him with. At Villeneuve, Belle reveals the Beast in the mirror to the townsfolk, proving her father's sanity. Realizing that Belle loves the Beast, a jealous Gaston claims she has been charmed by dark magic, and has her thrown into the asylum carriage with her father. He rallies the villagers to follow him to the castle to slay the Beast before he curses the whole village. Inside the asylum carriage, Belle tells her father that she knows what happened to her mother and showed him the rose rattle she took from her magical visit to their old, abandoned home. Maurice and Belle escape, and Belle rushes back to the castle.

During the battle, Gaston abandons his companion LeFou, who then sides with the servants to fend off the villagers. Gaston attacks the Beast in his tower, who is too depressed to fight back, but regains his spirit upon seeing Belle return. He defeats Gaston, but spares his life before reuniting with Belle. However, Gaston fatally shoots the Beast from a bridge, which then collapses as the castle began to crumble, leading Gaston to fall to his death. The Beast then dies as the last petal falls, and the servants become inanimate.

As Belle tearfully professes her love to the Beast, Agathe reveals herself as the enchantress and undoes the curse, repairing the crumbling castle, and restoring the Beast and servants to their human forms and to the villagers' memories. The Prince and Belle host a ball for the kingdom, where they dance happily.