Review of Beauty and the Beast (2017) by Matthew O — 10 Jul 2017

It seems as though every movie Disney makes in live-action, it's a remake of one of their animated classics. I have not been a fan of them outside of THE JUNGLE BOOK, which I thought was pretty good. So I was curious to see how Disney would pull off remaking one of my all time favorite animated movies, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.

Many people I know have already asked me what I thought of this movie, so it won't come as a surprise that I didn't like it. But to those who don't know are probably shocked because everybody seems to love it. And I can see why; it has a very nice production design, most of the song sequences are well done, I like how they updated the character of Maurice, and most of the casting is solid. I enjoyed the scenes with Gaston and LeFou, I thought the actors did a great job portraying the characters. They were by far the best part of the movie for me.

But what I was looking for was something that THE JUNGLE BOOK did, take on a different direction of the original story while still keeping the charm and charisma of the characters we love. The new BEAUTY AND THE BEAST may still have some of that charm and some of the characters but changes virtually nothing from the original story. Literally scene for scene it is the exact same movie as the original. So much of the dialogue was still unchanged. It almost looked like I was watching a shot for shot remake. At least with the other live-action remakes, they at least did something a little different. It didn't always work, of course, but at least they've shown to take risks, and I respect that. This movie barely took any risks. They just added a few songs, and they were mostly filler.

That's one of the major problems of the movie for me out of many. Another major problem is, I guess it's just me, I didn't feel any chemistry between Belle and the Beast. The performances were so bland, hardly any emotion comes from them. That's for me one of the strongest points in the original movie, the chemistry between the main couple, and they seem to almost completely forget about it in this movie. The whole time they were on screen, I just got bored. Another big problem is the fact that it's in live-action. Part of the charm and "beauty" of the original was the animation. It is gorgeous! It's bright and colorful, you remember what each character looks like, you see and feel their emotions, you see all that effort being put into it, and has the advantage of what can't be done in live-action. When the new movie tries to recreate the nonhuman characters, the CG is not only noticeable, but it sometimes looks kind of creepy when they try to make it look realistic. That takes away the charm of the original. Some things are better off in an animated movie. And also, why doesn't the Beast actually look like a beast instead of some big guy who hasn't shaved or brushed his teeth in a while? Come on, be more creative with his design.

But for me, the biggest problem of the movie for me is the fact that it was made. Why? What was the point? Did it add anything new, groundbreaking, or even remotely significant to the story? If you told me that the movie was supposed to be the BEAUTY AND THE BEAST movie "for a new generation", I'd say you're wrong. Very wrong. The original is the BEAUTY AND THE BEAST movie for every generation. Everybody knows it, everybody loves it, it's a perfect Disney movie, and it was the first animated movie to be nominated for Best Picture! Trying to recreate what was already perfect is one of the biggest mistakes a movie can give. And since this movie made over $1 billion at the box office, Disney is not going to stop remaking their animated classics, and they're going to be the same exact movie. Seriously, Disney, how much more money do you need? You have MARVEL and STAR WARS on your hands! It's ironic that Disney's animated movies, especially their more recent ones, that have no live-action people in it have so much more emotion, passion, and humanity to them than any of their live-action remakes.

Now before anybody kills me, I will give credit where credit's due. It's still in some ways a pretty well-made film. The songs sequences were well done, the scenery was nice to look at, I did laugh at a few parts, and the cast was solid (except for Emma Watson). I guess those who thoroughly enjoyed the movie were those who wanted to enjoy it; and those who didn't, including me, expected it to be the same movie as the original. If that doesn't bother you, then you'll enjoy it. I just wanted something from this movie to show me why it was made in the first place. And I never got it, this movie felt empty to me.

Grade: C.