Beauty and the Beast (2017) - Review Thread

I didn't hate her singing voice but she didn't take command of the songs like her cast mates AND she pales in comparison to the original. As for her performance, as I said, she's too vanilla. She did okay in the big emotional scenes but in the rest she lacked personality. I couldn't understand why the village cared about her or why Gaston was obsessed with her. She's boring. The Beast I get. He hasn't seen a female in years and she ultimately accepted him. But that was mostly superficial stuff. They fell in love because they both liked books. I almost laughed.

Que?

Well surprise, surprise...looks like I'm the one on here who enjoyed this movie the most.

Now, let me preface this by saying that I purposely chose not to re-watch the original animated film before seeing this, so I'm judging this solely on its own merits.  And I thought it was wonderful.  Definitely the best of Disney's recent string of live action remakes.  But even not having re-watched the original, this movie was still able to successfully transport me back to the magical nostalgia of my childhood.  If this really is a shot-for-shot remake or whatever, then I don't know nor do I care.  The bottom line is that this version most certainly works, emotionally and on an entertainment level.  The musical numbers are all great, even the new ones, and the actors manage to carry each and every one.  Which leads me to Emma Watson.  The original Belle, Paige O' Hara, was an actress with extensive Broadway background, so pretty much anybody they cast in the role was going to have an uphill battle.  But Emma Watson more than manages to carry her own in the singing department, not trying to go too bombastic, but keeping it simple, which suits the character.  I think she has a really good singing voice, and far be it from me to criticize someone in that department.  Neither did I think she was too bland or vanilla in the other scenes.  Watson nails the kindness and delicacy of Belle.  Dan Stevens is great as The Beast, and the other seasoned actors rounding out the cast are excellent, too.  The movie's also gorgeous to look at.

But most of all, this update feels like it can stand on its own if you don't live and breathe the original, and there's just enough that's different here to justify its existence.  This is the first recent live action Disney remake I haven't been lukewarm to, and it gives me some faith for their upcoming ones.

Don't take this away from him.

Her leaked nude photos were more exciting than her performance and even those couldn't compete with Amanda Seyfried or WWE Superstar Paige. Face it, dude. She was miscast. They should have cast Supergirl. Adorable. Has personality. AND can sing.

Evermore has grown on me. It'll never match up to the originals but it works in unison with the rest of the album. The Beast is the type of character who SHOULD breakout into a solo.

I lied. The female-dominated family I am a part of got me to see this in theatres.

I really loved the "Be Our Guest" scene - I had goosebumps there. Cogsworth, Lumiere, Gaston, and Gaston's gay BFF were all scene-stealers and completely made the movie worthwhile. There were some real laughs - the snowball fight scene, and Gaston's motivation ("WIDOWS!") were particularly funny.

That said, this movie did not work as a live-action movie, for me. The liberties the story takes works when the movie is animated, but making it realistic with flesh and blood actors/characters really shows how creepy and illogical the story as a whole is. Now, I know the premise of the movie itself is unrealistic, but the story and the world can at least follow some sort of logic within its world to make it work. Belle essentially becomes a victim of Stockholm Syndrome almost overnight. There is no real chemistry between her and The Beast, it just kind of ... happens. Gaston is a total psychopath who somehow just drags all the townspeople by their noses. I know the townspeople are simple, and Gaston is revered as a leading man, but talk about an easy mob to fire up with little effort whatsoever. Gaston's BFF lies about attempted murder, and gets Maurice locked up, but no one seems to mind at all at the end of the film.

And, as I anticipated, Emma Watson was really just awful. She took me entirely out of the film with her flat acting, mediocre singing, and unexpressive man-face. Belle is supposed to be a jaw-dropping beauty, not some plain-looking tomboy.

The film also felt way too long, and the jump from the village to the castle, then back to the village, then back to the castle was just ... choppy. I know it's how the story goes, but it didn't flow well for me. I was ready for the film to be over 30, 35 minutes before it did. Also, some original songs were thrown in, and none of them did it for me.

This was ok, but it was no Jungle Book.

4/10 - Meh, below average.

I'm actually planning on seeing this again this weekend.  I liked it that much.

And I liked this so much more than that largely meh Jungle Book remake last year.

Oh, boy.

Saw it again today, and I think I liked it even more this time.  In fact...call me crazy...but in some respects, I MIGHT prefer this version to the original.  In SOME respects.  Everyone's bitching about how it's too close to the original, but I don't mind that one bit; I walked in basically wanting a live action remake of the original.  If they'd made too many drastic changes, then that's when I'd be joining in on the hate/indifference.  They changed/added just enough for me for it to enhance the experience.  And yes, I re-watched the original last weekend, so I'm saying this with more confidence.

I didn't say overall, I just said in SOME respects.  I'd rate them overall the same, but there's stuff I like more in this version and there's stuff I like more in the original.