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Beauty & The Beast (2017) - review
8 years ago
General
Before I get the review itself, I'll talk about what I think of the animated original. The animated version is one of my most favorite Disney animated films of all time and one of my personal favorite animated films of all time. There's a reason it's regarded as a classic. It's got great songs, a great score, memorable characters, and a tale as old as time. :) I remember seeing it for the first time when it came out in theaters. I was around 8 when it came out. I immediately fell in love with it. I remember when they use to show it during classes. The entire class would sing along with the songs. It still holds up to this day and is the first ever animated film ever to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.
When I first heard they are doing a live action remake of the film. I thought, eh why not. I can actually see it work as a live action movie. And ever since I saw The Jungle Book remake, I had total faith that the Beauty & The Beast remake would do quite as well if not better.
After just seeing it today after spending an hour or more tying to find a non-sold out theater. No kidding. Here are my thoughts.
It's pretty good. Not as great as The Jungle Book, but good. I enjoyed it. They added more stuff in there as to be expected, but throughout it's a beat by beat remake. With songs and all. They added a couple more songs in it. I was hoping they add a couple from the Broadway Musical, but oh well. Some of it worked, but the added extra did explained more what the animated version left off. If I have to say it, I say both are pretty much equal as far as quality in the films. The characters are great, except with a few exceptions. Emma did a fantastic job as Belle. All the others did their very best with the characters they played. And the singing is quite good. The visual effects were excellent as that's to be expected, too.
Now, for the controversial part. LeFou being gay. I felt that's really not needed in any form. I mean, if they cut out LeFou being gay it wouldn't change a thing in the entire movie. Though, it didn't really bother me at all throughout the movie. It didn't detract the entire story at all, which I am very grateful for it.
If I have to choose which is the better movie. I have to give it some more thought because both are equally great in their own way. The animated classic still holds a special place in my heart, but I think I'll grow to like the live action version just as much.
If you love the original animated classic, you'll like the live action remake just as much. ;)
When I first heard they are doing a live action remake of the film. I thought, eh why not. I can actually see it work as a live action movie. And ever since I saw The Jungle Book remake, I had total faith that the Beauty & The Beast remake would do quite as well if not better.
After just seeing it today after spending an hour or more tying to find a non-sold out theater. No kidding. Here are my thoughts.
It's pretty good. Not as great as The Jungle Book, but good. I enjoyed it. They added more stuff in there as to be expected, but throughout it's a beat by beat remake. With songs and all. They added a couple more songs in it. I was hoping they add a couple from the Broadway Musical, but oh well. Some of it worked, but the added extra did explained more what the animated version left off. If I have to say it, I say both are pretty much equal as far as quality in the films. The characters are great, except with a few exceptions. Emma did a fantastic job as Belle. All the others did their very best with the characters they played. And the singing is quite good. The visual effects were excellent as that's to be expected, too.
Now, for the controversial part. LeFou being gay. I felt that's really not needed in any form. I mean, if they cut out LeFou being gay it wouldn't change a thing in the entire movie. Though, it didn't really bother me at all throughout the movie. It didn't detract the entire story at all, which I am very grateful for it.
If I have to choose which is the better movie. I have to give it some more thought because both are equally great in their own way. The animated classic still holds a special place in my heart, but I think I'll grow to like the live action version just as much.
If you love the original animated classic, you'll like the live action remake just as much. ;)
I thought Emma's performance during the first act could have been better as it seemed like she was uninterested with the exception of her singing. She got better as the story progressed. The beast was given a more progressive character. Instead of just being impatient at her not loving him from the beginning, he sees Belle as merely the daughter of a thief. We don't see him start changing his tone until after he saves Belle. I believe Gaston was the best one cast. Perfectly reflected as being very masculine, selfish, self-centered, and egotistical. Him singing his first line of his song threw me off with laughter as he had an unusually high pitched voice. We see his decent into madness as he's getting so desperate to marry Belle. I wanted to insert MAGIC!'s Rude during his interaction with Maurice. Maurice being given a more mature character made him seem of more importance to the plot than the animated version where he seemed more quirky. Lefou's character was updated to give him more of a moral conscience and often questioned Gaston's motives. And of course, the gay stuff with him has been WAAAY overblown. There's only 2 noticeable moments in the film, and they're very subtle. As for the objects in the castle, OMG they look so nightmarish. They look like they belong in the haunted mansion. I feel like Mrs. Potts is staring right into my soul. Plumette was given a lot more screentime than in the animated film, but doesn't really contribute much. It's more or less just to flirt with Lumiere, but at least she's one I can look at without holding a cross in my hand.
There were some minor changes to the storyline, but just enough not to disrupt the story as a whole. I liked the backstory involving both their mothers. It linked together so well and helps the chemistry between the two. In the end, each version holds up on their own. It's up to everyone which one they prefer.