Beauty and the Beast (2017)

One of the more puzzling movies for me to look at is the 1991 Disney adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. Being so beloved by so many, I feel like I have almost a responsibility to like it, which I do. The music is catchy and some of Disney's best, while the animation is top-notch and holds its own against the spectacular hand-drawn animation of The Lion King and The Prince of Egypt. That being said, I've always felt that the story was a little lacking in character development.

Enter Disney's "live action renaissance," the period of the past few years in which Disney has gone all in with remaking some of their animated classics in live-action form. So far, they've had middling to positive success in doing so with Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, Cinderella, The Jungle Book, and Pete's Dragon; and if you look at Disney's calendar of upcoming events, you can pretty much guarantee that your Disney classic of choice will be getting the same treatment. I've personally enjoyed Cinderella and absolutely loved The Jungle Book, so naturally I was hoping that Beauty and the Beast would do the same as those and flesh out the original film's details a little to give me a more emotionally fulfilling story.

On this front, Beauty and the Beast does very well. There are several instances where the film fleshes out the backstory of the Beast, and for me it really helped me see a fuller arc in his character. A lot of the other characters feel more realistic and grounded than their animated counterparts, especially Gaston and LeFou. This might simply be due to them being portrayed by real actors, but the additional character depth is still notable and is definitely a highlight of the film.

Going right off of that, the acting is mostly fantastic. Dan Stevens as the Beast, Luke Evans as Gaston, Josh Gad as LeFou, and the entirety of the castle staff all turn in fantastic work. Evans and Gad are one of the more entertaining on-screen duos I've seen in recent memory, with both going just over the top enough to fit their respective characters without overdoing things at all. The one disappointment here is actually Emma Watson as Belle. I think she has as much acting ability as almost anyone else working today, and she uses it well; however, whenever she starts singing, almost all the heart vanishes from her performance. I don't know if it's the way her vocals were produced or the way she was vocally coached for the film, but it noticeably downgrades her performance.

That is honestly the biggest problem with Beauty and the Beast: despite all the glorious visuals and catchy music, everything feels like it's missing a little of the heart of the animated version. The original has this irreplaceable quality that hand-drawn animation brings to the table, and because its charm so heavily relied on it this remake feels at times like a cash grab. Now, please understand when I say this that I feel that Beauty and the Beast is one of the better-made cash grabs in recent memory and is very faithful to the source material; however, the extreme faithfulness it exercises to the animated film makes it seem way less necessary than either Cinderella or The Jungle Book. There's just not enough new here to compel me to see this film again.

Overall, Beauty and the Beast knows that the original is always going to stand in very high regard, so instead of trying to mess with what it did so well it nearly completely copies it, adding some extra backstory to give some needed depth to the characters. This will be appreciated by rabid fans of the animated film, but for people like me who are not as enamored with it this might come off as lacking. The magic is not as well captured in live action, but Beauty and the Beast is entertaining nonetheless.

My recommendation: If you love the original, it's a must-see; otherwise, your mileage may vary. 

My grade: 58/100