Off Topic: Disney's Beauty and the Beast (2017) SPOILERS!!
FOUR YEARS. I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOVIE FOR FOUR YEARS!!! I was there through all the press releases and have been impatiently waiting for this movie to come out for what feels like forever. Since Disney announced that they were doing this film in 2013 or 2014, I went crazy. "Beauty and the Beast" is my favorite Disney movie of all time. Not only is it my favorite Disney movie, it is one of my favorite pieces of entertainment. It is one of my favorite movies and one of my favorite musicals. So, this film had a lot to live up to for me, with expectations that were already incredibly high. So, after literal years of waiting, I finally saw the live action version of "Beauty and the Beast". And folks,...it was amazing. The film was just pure Disney magic and it delivered in nearly every way possible and I LOVED it. It is not perfect, but this really is a phenomenal film. In this review, I am going to go really in depth. If you have yet to see it, please don't read this review because I believe that everyone should go into this film without knowing what was changed or what they are going to be doing visually, vocally, etc., it will make the film that much better. So if you haven't seen it yet, please stop here.
Like I just said, this film was absolutely phenomenal in pretty much every way. I had some issues with the plot here and there, but it was overall just a breathtaking film.We have a lot of ground floor to cover in this review, so let's just dig right in. I am not going to tell you what it is about because this is a tale as old as time and if you don't know what "Beauty and the Beast" is about, that is a little sad. I am going to start by talking about the characterization of the characters, specifically that of Belle and Gaston.
In this version of "Beauty and the Beast", Belle is definitely a bit more of a feminist for her time. At the beginning of the film, Belle is a little bit more proactive during the scenes in the village. In the original Disney cartoon, Belle is seen as different from her village because of how much she reads. In this version, however, Belle is not only seen as different because of her constant reading and daydreaming, but because of how her ideals differed from those in her village. Belle teaches little girls in her village how to read, which is something that the others in her village believe should be denied to girls and women. She is also an inventor, you get to see Belle put some of her innovative ideals to work, but the people in her village shun her because of their small mindedness towards any new principles. Another character that was different from the original was Gaston. In the live action version, Gaston is way worse than he was in the original. In the original, Gaston is an awful person, but you still love him for whatever reason. Although he is an awful Disney Villain, he is still charismatic and charming to a certain extent. In this version, Gaston IS a monster! In the animated film, you know he's bad, but here HE IS BAD! He attempts murder on two people and constantly manipulates the people around him, moreso here than in the original. With cartoon Gaston, I don't think I'd really say I HATE the character, even though he is pretty awful. With live action Gaston, I DO HATE him. Gaston really is an evil person in this film and it works perfectly.
The rest of the characterizations don't differ too much from the original. Lumiere is still Lumiere, Cogsworth is still Cogsworth, and Miss Potts is still Miss Potts. The character of the wardrobe (named Gaderobe in this version) is slightly expanded upon and is given a love interest named Mastreo Cadenza, who is a piano. The character that everyone has been talking about recently has been Lefou, since it was announced that he would take part in the first gay scene in a Disney film that we now know was non existent. However, since Disney announced it, that's what we were all thinking about during all of Lefou's interactions with Gaston. Lefou mostly seemed like the Lefou we know, until the middle when he denied that Gaston attempted murder on Maurice, to which he was a firsthand witness to. After that, they tried to get us to sympathize with Lefou, but I just couldn't because of that action.
Now onto the cast. I thought the entire film was so well cast. There wasn't a person who was off and everyone gave a memorable performance. There were a lot of question marks surrounding Emma Watson's casting as Belle, but I can tell you that I thought she was fantastic. There were so many nice little nuances in her performance that added so much to her character. Everyone was concerned about her singing, which I thought was passable. I wasn't expecting this amazing singer, but what Watson did vocally was fine. As the Beast, Dan Stevens was quite good. Stevens had a lovely chemistry with Watson and his singing was pretty nice, with his main highlight being the new song, "Evermore." Luke Evans and Josh Gad were wonderful as Gaston as Lefou. Evans played the character description that I gave to a tee. Gad had many funny one liners and gave almost the exact performance that I thought he would give. Ewan McGregor and Ian McKellan were delightful as Lumiere and Cogsworth and Emma Thompson was perfectly cast as Miss Potts. Of course, Audra McDonald was beautiful as Gaderobe and was paired well with Stanley Tucci as her husband. I am just glad that they didn't waste Audra McDonald and utilized her character more than in almost any other version of "Beauty and the Beast." The entire cast was simply transcendent. This is easily one of the most well cast movie musicals from the past few years.
Almost as soon as the prologue started and throughout the film, you could tell that they were trying to fill in the plotholes from the original. For example, they included the villagers as apart of the curse, erasing any memory they had of the kingdom or of the people that were turned into objects because I guess someone in the idea room said, "How come nobody has gone looking for them?" To which I say, it's a fairy tale, why are you questioning it? Some of the inconsistencies that they fixed from the original, I didn't mind. However, that one didn't make sense to me. It felt pointless and when their memory was restored at the end it just felt wrong because all of those people cost them millions of dollars in damage to the castle and even attempted to break some of the objects. Also, for those reunions to make sense, you'd have to remember the one line from the beginning of the movie that explained their memory was erased. The script writers, Stephen Chobosky and Evan Sipiliotopoulous, also decided to give the enchantress (played by Hattie Morahan) a more prominent role than what she had in the original, which was just her image in the stained glass window. I'm sure I will eventually come to understand the choice to expand the enchantress through more and more viewings of the film, but as of right now, I didn't get it. I appreciated that they chose to expand on the relationship between Belle and the Beast. Normally, the beast's change of heart just happens when they save each other's lives. Here, you really see them start to come around to each other in a different way than in the original. The same would go for Belle and Maurice (played by a pleasant Kevin Kline), but of course they loved each other in a father-daughter way. It was a different adaptation from the original, but there was enough that they took and more or less copied exactly from the original to please the mega fans of the piece, such as myself.
The songs (Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by Howard Ashman & Tim Rice) in the film were marvelous. The staging of songs like "Belle" were done perfectly, thanks to the direction of Bill Condon, who is no stranger to doing musicals. I also loved all of the new songs that they added into the film, especially "Evermore" which was perfect for the character of the Beast and the moment in the story. I have to admit, I was really sad when they announced that the songs written for the stage show would not be included in the remake. Watching the film, I didn't miss them too much. There were a few moments where it felt like they were about to lead into some of the songs from the stage show and those were the only moments where I missed them. During the first scene with Belle and Maurice, when she said "Papa, do you think I'm odd?", I was so ready for "No Matter What". Although they did not give me songs like 'If I Can't Love Her" or "A Change in Me", they made up for it by playing "Home" in the background during one of the scenes.
In my humble opinion, this is the most visually stunning film that Disney has done since"Maleficent." "Beauty and the Beast" was a simply gorgeous film. The special effects (I cannot find a special effects credit at this time) were bright and enchanting, while the scenery (by Sarah Greenwood) was ravishing and inviting. The camera angles were also sensational. When Emma Watson ran up that hill and sang the reprise of "Belle", I cried because all of it just looked so beautiful. Another scene that I think they absolutely nailed was the ballroom scene when Emma Watson and Dan Stevens danced to the title song. The scene was just shot and choreographed so elegantly and again, it made me cry. The enchanted objects were designed well, except I think that Miss Potts looked a little creepy at times, most notably during her section of the show stopper, "Be Our Guest." The costumes (by Jacqueline Durann) were also done nicely. Everyone was questioning the design of Belle's iconic yellow dress since the first time a photo of it was released. Before seeing the film, I thought that it was a lackluster dress, but once I saw it in the film and she was moving and dancing in it, it looked notably better. Bradley Simms' design for the Beast wasn't awful, but at times, it looked way too CGI.
This is a bold statement, but I honestly believe that this version of "Beauty and the Beast" might just be the best musical movie of the decade. There is still a little bit of decade left and we still have the "Wicked" movie ahead of us in 2019, but this movie is just that good. Although the film does have it's issues, most of them I discussed in this review, this film is spectacular. This film has really set the bar for what I want to see from all of the upcoming movie musicals. After four years of waiting for it, I finally got it and I hope all of you love it just as much, if not more, as I did. In closing, I am interested in hearing what everyone else thinks about this movie. So, leave a comment and I will respond or message me. I hope we can discuss!
The cast of the 2017 live action remake of "BEAUTY AND THE BEAST" consisted of:
Belle- EMMA WATSON
The Beast- DAN STEVENS
Gaston- LUKE EVANS
Maurice- KEVIN KLINE
Lumiere- EWAN McGREGOR
Cogsworth- IAN McKELLEN
Miss Potts- EMMA THOMPSON
Gaderobe- AUDRA McDONALD
Maestro Cadenza- STANLEY TUCCI
Plumette- GUGU MBATHA-RAW
Chip- NATHAN MACK
Lefou- JOSH GAD
Agathe, The Enchantress- HATTIE MORHARAN
Like I just said, this film was absolutely phenomenal in pretty much every way. I had some issues with the plot here and there, but it was overall just a breathtaking film.We have a lot of ground floor to cover in this review, so let's just dig right in. I am not going to tell you what it is about because this is a tale as old as time and if you don't know what "Beauty and the Beast" is about, that is a little sad. I am going to start by talking about the characterization of the characters, specifically that of Belle and Gaston.
In this version of "Beauty and the Beast", Belle is definitely a bit more of a feminist for her time. At the beginning of the film, Belle is a little bit more proactive during the scenes in the village. In the original Disney cartoon, Belle is seen as different from her village because of how much she reads. In this version, however, Belle is not only seen as different because of her constant reading and daydreaming, but because of how her ideals differed from those in her village. Belle teaches little girls in her village how to read, which is something that the others in her village believe should be denied to girls and women. She is also an inventor, you get to see Belle put some of her innovative ideals to work, but the people in her village shun her because of their small mindedness towards any new principles. Another character that was different from the original was Gaston. In the live action version, Gaston is way worse than he was in the original. In the original, Gaston is an awful person, but you still love him for whatever reason. Although he is an awful Disney Villain, he is still charismatic and charming to a certain extent. In this version, Gaston IS a monster! In the animated film, you know he's bad, but here HE IS BAD! He attempts murder on two people and constantly manipulates the people around him, moreso here than in the original. With cartoon Gaston, I don't think I'd really say I HATE the character, even though he is pretty awful. With live action Gaston, I DO HATE him. Gaston really is an evil person in this film and it works perfectly.
The rest of the characterizations don't differ too much from the original. Lumiere is still Lumiere, Cogsworth is still Cogsworth, and Miss Potts is still Miss Potts. The character of the wardrobe (named Gaderobe in this version) is slightly expanded upon and is given a love interest named Mastreo Cadenza, who is a piano. The character that everyone has been talking about recently has been Lefou, since it was announced that he would take part in the first gay scene in a Disney film that we now know was non existent. However, since Disney announced it, that's what we were all thinking about during all of Lefou's interactions with Gaston. Lefou mostly seemed like the Lefou we know, until the middle when he denied that Gaston attempted murder on Maurice, to which he was a firsthand witness to. After that, they tried to get us to sympathize with Lefou, but I just couldn't because of that action.
Now onto the cast. I thought the entire film was so well cast. There wasn't a person who was off and everyone gave a memorable performance. There were a lot of question marks surrounding Emma Watson's casting as Belle, but I can tell you that I thought she was fantastic. There were so many nice little nuances in her performance that added so much to her character. Everyone was concerned about her singing, which I thought was passable. I wasn't expecting this amazing singer, but what Watson did vocally was fine. As the Beast, Dan Stevens was quite good. Stevens had a lovely chemistry with Watson and his singing was pretty nice, with his main highlight being the new song, "Evermore." Luke Evans and Josh Gad were wonderful as Gaston as Lefou. Evans played the character description that I gave to a tee. Gad had many funny one liners and gave almost the exact performance that I thought he would give. Ewan McGregor and Ian McKellan were delightful as Lumiere and Cogsworth and Emma Thompson was perfectly cast as Miss Potts. Of course, Audra McDonald was beautiful as Gaderobe and was paired well with Stanley Tucci as her husband. I am just glad that they didn't waste Audra McDonald and utilized her character more than in almost any other version of "Beauty and the Beast." The entire cast was simply transcendent. This is easily one of the most well cast movie musicals from the past few years.
 |
| Emma Watson and Dan Stevens as Belle and the Beast |
Almost as soon as the prologue started and throughout the film, you could tell that they were trying to fill in the plotholes from the original. For example, they included the villagers as apart of the curse, erasing any memory they had of the kingdom or of the people that were turned into objects because I guess someone in the idea room said, "How come nobody has gone looking for them?" To which I say, it's a fairy tale, why are you questioning it? Some of the inconsistencies that they fixed from the original, I didn't mind. However, that one didn't make sense to me. It felt pointless and when their memory was restored at the end it just felt wrong because all of those people cost them millions of dollars in damage to the castle and even attempted to break some of the objects. Also, for those reunions to make sense, you'd have to remember the one line from the beginning of the movie that explained their memory was erased. The script writers, Stephen Chobosky and Evan Sipiliotopoulous, also decided to give the enchantress (played by Hattie Morahan) a more prominent role than what she had in the original, which was just her image in the stained glass window. I'm sure I will eventually come to understand the choice to expand the enchantress through more and more viewings of the film, but as of right now, I didn't get it. I appreciated that they chose to expand on the relationship between Belle and the Beast. Normally, the beast's change of heart just happens when they save each other's lives. Here, you really see them start to come around to each other in a different way than in the original. The same would go for Belle and Maurice (played by a pleasant Kevin Kline), but of course they loved each other in a father-daughter way. It was a different adaptation from the original, but there was enough that they took and more or less copied exactly from the original to please the mega fans of the piece, such as myself.
The songs (Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by Howard Ashman & Tim Rice) in the film were marvelous. The staging of songs like "Belle" were done perfectly, thanks to the direction of Bill Condon, who is no stranger to doing musicals. I also loved all of the new songs that they added into the film, especially "Evermore" which was perfect for the character of the Beast and the moment in the story. I have to admit, I was really sad when they announced that the songs written for the stage show would not be included in the remake. Watching the film, I didn't miss them too much. There were a few moments where it felt like they were about to lead into some of the songs from the stage show and those were the only moments where I missed them. During the first scene with Belle and Maurice, when she said "Papa, do you think I'm odd?", I was so ready for "No Matter What". Although they did not give me songs like 'If I Can't Love Her" or "A Change in Me", they made up for it by playing "Home" in the background during one of the scenes.
In my humble opinion, this is the most visually stunning film that Disney has done since"Maleficent." "Beauty and the Beast" was a simply gorgeous film. The special effects (I cannot find a special effects credit at this time) were bright and enchanting, while the scenery (by Sarah Greenwood) was ravishing and inviting. The camera angles were also sensational. When Emma Watson ran up that hill and sang the reprise of "Belle", I cried because all of it just looked so beautiful. Another scene that I think they absolutely nailed was the ballroom scene when Emma Watson and Dan Stevens danced to the title song. The scene was just shot and choreographed so elegantly and again, it made me cry. The enchanted objects were designed well, except I think that Miss Potts looked a little creepy at times, most notably during her section of the show stopper, "Be Our Guest." The costumes (by Jacqueline Durann) were also done nicely. Everyone was questioning the design of Belle's iconic yellow dress since the first time a photo of it was released. Before seeing the film, I thought that it was a lackluster dress, but once I saw it in the film and she was moving and dancing in it, it looked notably better. Bradley Simms' design for the Beast wasn't awful, but at times, it looked way too CGI.
This is a bold statement, but I honestly believe that this version of "Beauty and the Beast" might just be the best musical movie of the decade. There is still a little bit of decade left and we still have the "Wicked" movie ahead of us in 2019, but this movie is just that good. Although the film does have it's issues, most of them I discussed in this review, this film is spectacular. This film has really set the bar for what I want to see from all of the upcoming movie musicals. After four years of waiting for it, I finally got it and I hope all of you love it just as much, if not more, as I did. In closing, I am interested in hearing what everyone else thinks about this movie. So, leave a comment and I will respond or message me. I hope we can discuss!
 | |
The cast of the 2017 live action remake of "BEAUTY AND THE BEAST" consisted of:
Belle- EMMA WATSON
The Beast- DAN STEVENS
Gaston- LUKE EVANS
Maurice- KEVIN KLINE
Lumiere- EWAN McGREGOR
Cogsworth- IAN McKELLEN
Miss Potts- EMMA THOMPSON
Gaderobe- AUDRA McDONALD
Maestro Cadenza- STANLEY TUCCI
Plumette- GUGU MBATHA-RAW
Chip- NATHAN MACK
Lefou- JOSH GAD
Agathe, The Enchantress- HATTIE MORHARAN
Comments
Post a Comment