This past week, Disney's live-action remake of 'Beauty and the Beast' came to theaters. Since it is a remake of one of my favorite movies of all time, I had to see it. Does it compare to the original or is it another disaster? There may be spoilers ahead so read with caution. With that out of the way, let's see if this movie is a beauty or a beast.
I will break it down into 4 parts: characters, story, music and general impressions. Let's start with the characters. I will limit myself to main characters. Belle was portrayed well and came across as clever and independent as you imagine. I didn't agree with the casting at first but Emma Watson did a very good job. My only issue was that while she was in her blue peasant outfit, she kept part of her skirt tucked up so you could see her undergarments (pantalets). I still like the original Belle, but Emma Watson was good too. Now for the Beast....I did not particularly like some of the makeup choices for his look. I felt that his horns were pointing in the wrong direction (in the original they curved forward) and too big. I also realized later that his tail was not like a bushy dog's tail but more like a lion in this one. He sounded and came across as you'd imagine. The Beast was good, like Belle, but not better than the original.
On the remaining cast, I will say that all the rest were okay. Gaston came across better than I thought he would and LeFou was funny yet almost too obvious in his affections for Gaston. The enchanted objects were all portrayed wonderfully. I did have a design issue with a few of them. Lumiere looked like a candelabra when Maurice first entered the castle. When he began moving, he looked like a little gold man holding candles in his hands and on his head. Why was there such a difference between his looks? It should have been one look - a candelabra. This feels like an incredibly lazy animation choice. Instead of figuring out how to animate a candelabra, they just animated a man. Also, the feather duster...why was it shaped like a white peacock? It was lovely but it didn't say feather duster to me. And finally, the wardrobe.... I am not a fan of this design from the odd shape and the curtains inside used to make a 'face'. I think they took some ideas from the Broadway costumes but it still is not the best. They should have stuck with the animated appearance.
Now for the story.....it was okay. A few things were changed around as was expected. There were a few plot hole fixes from the original story. However, I felt that while Belle and Beast were given more depth, Gaston was still the same - arrogant, uneducated, and a jerk. It was strange considering how most other villains lately are usually made to be more approachable and thusly less evil. Gaston was just the same. He wanted Belle and that was his focus for the entire movie. The story also seemed rushed. The animated feature seemed to span a good a bit of time (fall to winter) while this one seemed to take literally days. I find it hard to believe that love happens that quickly. Overall, the story was okay since it was faithful enough to the original so that it didn't feel like an entirely different story.
Now for my favorite part - the music. I had a few issues with it. First of all, the wardrobe's singing was too over the top for my taste but she was supposed to be an opera singer so it made sense. The songs that were added to the movie were not that good. With the exception of the song sung by the enchanted objects while the Beast recuperates, all the other songs were not very memorable. I wish that 'If I Can't Love Her' and 'Human Again' were in this movie. They would have been stunning. The Beast's song was good, but it does not have the power that 'If I Can't Love Her' does. Oh and for the record, I have not seen the Broadway version, I only have the soundtrack which is amazing. I imagined the Beast singing 'If I Can't Love Her' during his solo and I could not see why they didn't just use that song. It would have been wonderful.
The other songs that were in the movie, like the original, were wonderful yet something about them seemed off. They changed the key or the speed of certain songs so they sounded slightly different from the originals but that was okay. The biggest thing about the music is that I didn't have the urge to buy the soundtrack. I still don't see the point of buying the soundtrack since I have the soundtracks to the original and the Broadway versions. Still, it was nice to have the music in the movie, unlike the remake of Cinderella which was devoid of music except for one song which literally had nothing to do with Cinderella...'Lavender Blue, Dilly-Dilly'.
General impressions were that it was a good movie. It was visually stunning in many parts, especially 'Be Our Guest'. Overall, it was good, but it felt that they were trying so hard to 'fix' parts of the original that they lost what made the original so good. Also, Belle's gold dress was nice, but it wasn't as grand as the original design. I think the new doll's dress looks better. It didn't matter anyway since she dropped it in the mud at the end because it was faster to ride in her undergarments...but I digress. The movie was good, I would watch it again, but it doesn't hold up to the original.
And that's my review of Beauty and the Beast. I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed writing it. Leave a comment below telling me your thoughts on this movie. Was the dress not enough? Were the characters memorable? Was the music amazing? You know my opinion, now tell me yours. Have a good weekend and as always, keep on gaming!!
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