Not many people know this, but my favourite Disney film is Fantasia. But if I had to choose a film that told a flowing story, with the fairy tale and princess aspect, it would be Beauty and the Beast. Because everything is done perfectly. Belle as a character is perfect, the romance is perfect, the songs are perfect, the pacing is perfect, the animation is perfect and the tone is perfect. So does this new Disney remake make lightning strike twice like The Jungle Book or is Twilight a better love story?
The Story - 4.5/10
If you don't know the original story then let me elaborate. It follows Belle, an outcast in a small, rural village in France. She's a bookworm and behaves like a millennial to the village folk. Her father goes to a festival, gets lost and winds up being a prisoner of the Beast. Belle offers her life in return and the romance blossoms on after that. If you love the original animated classic, then one thing you will notice is this film's pacing. It is poorly done and way too quick.
For example, Belle's father Maurice goes to the castle, gets spooked and captured, the horse comes back and Belle finds him. That was in the span of five minutes! The romance also isn't shown enough to make us believe it. There is also a new plot line with Maurice and Gaston and doesn't go in a way that has any common sense. There are also plot lines that don't go anywhere, like a flashback with the Beast as a child standing over his dead mother and being dragged away by his father. That goes nowhere. Going to Belle's home and seeing what happened to her mother goes nowhere and doesn't add anything to the story either.
Another thing you will notice as well is that there is an over abundance of black crowd members. This must have had good intentions, but it comes off as anachronistic and pointless. I say anachronistic because there is a black clergyman. In the 1700's when the story was set, this would not have happened. But to give credit where credit is due, it did have an invigorating battle sequence. Unlike the original where just the males go with Gaston to fight the castle, 'everyone' goes. I immediately thought they would just show the men wiping the floor with the furniture. But no, the women take serious punches. So good job movie.
The Characters - 4/10
Emma Watson is a disaster as Belle. She couldn't act nice and sincere even if she was at someone's deathbed. She goes around with smug contempt, harsh facial expressions and has singing that Lawrence D Cohen could refuse. She also reacts extremely cavalier to the Beast's torment and the discovery of antiques coming to life. She essentially acts like someone who is not worthy of community theatre and has an apathy towards life around her. Her chemistry with Dan Stevens is aso a failed reaction. All I can say is that I'm pleased she dropped La La Land for this, she would have ruined it otherwise.
Dan Stevens as the Beast is also atrocious. His facial expressions and body movements are nothing like an animalistic monstrosity or someone opening his heart. The CGI as well is not enchanting as the tone will want you to think, when they put so much detail in his design you just feel uncomfortable. His chemistry with Emma Watson is as bad as her's.
Luke Evans as Gaston and Josh Gad as Lefou, I originally thought was a very bad idea. But was I mistaken. Luke Evans acts believably with charm, he sings amazingly and is enjoyable every single second. Josh Gad as well acts with humour and campy infatuation, also with the controversy of him being the first gay Disney character, that is nonsense. Lefou in the original was campy and infatuated, and I never thought of him as straight to being with. These two are the only enjoyable and or believable members of the cast.
Ewan McGregor as Lumiere and Ian McKellen as Cogsworth are terrible. Ewan McGregor is especially bad since he can't do a convincing accent or sing, it is just as bad as his role in Moulin Rouge. The CGI as well has the same problem with the Beast, he is too detailed that it is uncomfortable and not enchanting. But Ian McKellen is the least terrible of the pair, he is at least trying the hardest and has a natural charisma to him. Emma Thompson as Mrs Potts is not anything special and she doesn't have good diction when she sings the main number of the whole movie! Angela Lansbury would definitely not approve.
The most insulting thing about this cast is that they have Audra McDonald as Madame Garderobe. She is one of the most amazing singers on Broadway and has a role that is meant to sleep all the time and has under ten lines in the whole movie! She is the only one who can sing and doesn't sing!
The Songs - 3.5/10
This is the second most important aspect that this film had to do, and they mucked up big time. The way that they did the songs in terms of choreography is not bad but the people they have to perform them are atrocious. They either don't have good voices, sound bored the whole time, can't hold a note or have terrible diction. The only two songs that are tolerable and even fun are Gaston and the Mob Song. Notice something, they both have Luke Evans and Josh Gad as mains. As stated before being the only good singers with charm. The main numbers that people hold so dear to their hearts are Belle, Be our Guest and Beauty and the Beast. They are performed terribly and will more than certainly bore you and not leave you joining in.
Conclusion
This film is a terrible remake of an animation classic. There is no reason for this film to exist because one the thing remakes will have to achieve, is to either be it's own thing or be better than the original. The Jungle Book became it's own thing, and True Grit captured the spirit of the original and became the better film. This did neither of those things. The acting is atrocious, the chemistry is non-existent, the CGI is ugly and uncomfortable and the songs fail to impress and entertain.
I am giving this film a 4/10
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