The long-awaited live-action adaptation of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast was released on March 17, 2017. Beauty and the Beast generated lots of hype from the moment the project was announced. Fans of the original animation were excited to see Belle reimagined and portrayed by Emma Watson who is no stranger to portraying beloved, strong, intelligent female characters. With a star-studded cast portraying cherished characters like Mrs. Potts, Lefou, Gaston, Lumiere, etc., this live action remake seemed promising. Being a diehard Disney fan, I did expect lots from this movie, but I knew there was only so much that could have been done to make it stand out from the original. Over spring break I decided to go see it, and determine if all the hype and rave reviews rang true. But did producer Bill Condon’s vision live up to expectations?
Here is a pros and cons list about what I liked about the movie, and what I didn’t. Disclaimer: There may be some SPOILERS in this article; if spoilers aren’t your thing, scroll down to the rating!
Cons:
1. I’m beginning with the cons because I want to end on a positive note! While these cons aren’t super negative, they were enough to take away from my experience of the film, overall. The first thing I didn’t like about it was…brace yourself…Emma Watson’s acting. She is usually great, but I just didn’t feel chemistry between her and the cast (especially with the beast)! Granted, she deserves props because it is difficult to act with nothing in front of you – most of the characters in the movie movie are CGI (computer-generated imagery); it’s probably difficult for an actress/actor to have a genuine reaction to things going on around her. For example, Belle’s reaction to the song/dance during the “Be Our Guest” performance was very lackluster and emotionless, and Lumiere’s (voiced by Ewan McGregor) performance was spectacular enough to garner a better of reaction, in my opinion.
2. The second thing I didn’t really like about the movie was how much they included Plumette – Lumiere’s love interest – and failed to include Mrs. Potts and Chip enough throughout the film.
In the original, Plumette was kind of just extra. I can see why she was included more, because more “girl power”, but let’s not reduce Mrs. Potts’ time! Plumette, to me, is irrelevant, and I didn’t see why she had to be attached to Lumiere the whole movie; let Lumiere live!
3. Also, a lot of people said that this movie was so emotional, and that I was going to ball my eyes out (which I usually do at some point while watching Disney movies), but honestly, there weren’t any scenes that really tugged at my heart like the original did. Maybe it was because of the acting or because the emotional scenes weren’t developed as well – I don’t know. What I do know is that I didn’t shed a tear! However, I did briefly well up when Belle ran to the top of a hill and proclaimed that she wants “adventure in the great wide somewhere” because girl, me too!
Pros:
1. While I was kind of knit-picky with the movie, there was lots about it that I liked. Probably my favorite thing about the movie was the casting of Luke Evans as Gaston, and Josh Gad as Lefou. In my opinion, the casting directors hit the nail on the head with the decision to cast them! Evans and Gad had amazing chemistry, and the pair’s uncanny resemblance to the original characters added more richness to the movie. As they are my favorite villainous pair in all Disney movies, I couldn’t have been more impressed with Evan’s and Gad’s performances.
2. Personally, I think the best scene of the movie was their performance of “Gaston.” I can’t explain how down-right PERFECT it was; it actually took my breath away and had me smiling the whole time!
Evan’s and Gad’s singing was on point, and the whole scene in general was on point. It made me love Gaston more…which says a lot (I can’t help it folks). Also, (spoiler) I loved how at the end of the movie, Lefou turned on Gaston, even though that was his total bro and man-crush (I say this because Lefou is suggested to be gay in this movie…another spoiler).
3. I enjoyed the rest of the singing in this movie as well. I thought all the original songs were performed well, as well as the four new songs in the movie. When I first heard there was going to be new songs, I thought it wouldn’t work well for the adaptation (call me a traditionalist), but the songs were actually really good. I was thoroughly impressed, especially by Beast’s song, “Evermore,” which showed a more vulnerable side to him. Long story short, the song was so beautiful and life changing! Thank you, Dan Stevens.
4. I also loved how this movie gave fans more information about Belle’s mother (spoiler), and what her fate was; it explained why Belle and her father had to leave a city like Paris and move to their provincial town. Belle’s mother was a victim of the plague.
5. Lastly, I liked how they showed Belle trying to teach a young girl in her town how to read. Literacy is important, and it showed how her character was trying to spread and share the knowledge she has, rather than keeping it to herself. Belle, of course, was persecuted for this, which highlighted the notion that the town didn’t care for education, especially that of a woman.
All in all, I think the movie was great. Coming out of the theater, I had mixed feelings about it because so many people hyped it up much more than it should have been. I did love the movie, but I do have several things I didn’t like about this new vision. I walked out satisfied, but also feeling a bit cheated by all the hype I gave in to! I think if you walk into the movie with a clear mind and don’t give into the hype like I did, you’ll enjoy every part of the movie sans criticisms, like my dad and boyfriend did!
Overall rating: 8 out of 10.