The tale as old as time is back everyone! The Disney live action remake of Beauty and the Beast is here to sweep you up in its magic and grandeur. Much of the remake retains what makes the 1991 animated film special. Just ignore the 2017 justifications for 1991 behavior.
Here’s your refresher: vain French royal (Dan Stevens) gets transformed into a beast to represent his awful insides, only to be returned to normal when he learns to love. That opportunity comes when single father Maurice (Kevin Kline) wanders into the magical castle and gets imprisoned by the beast. His daughter Belle (Emma Watson), the resident weird girl due to her reading habit, takes Maurice’s place. Belle (did you know her name in French means beauty??????) and the beast slowly form a strong connection. This connection is threatened by Belle’s dimwitted suitor Gaston (Luke Evans) and his super gay follower (Disney’s first) LeFou (Josh Gad), who don’t understand why Belle is interested in this beast but not Gaston.
The magic of Beauty and the Beast is in those wondrous songs and set pieces, which have lost none of their luster. The waltz in the grand ballroom is as luscious as a decadent wedding cake, with as vivid coloring as the Wizard of Oz. A bit of warning for parents of young girls: they will want that dress Belle wears. Be Our Guest was my highlight, showing off Lumiere (Ewan McGregor), Cogsworth (Ian McKellen), Mrs. Potts (Emma Thompson), and the rest of the no longer inanimate castle objects. That piece will remind you of a synchronized swimming set, or a 1950’s production in its magic and attention to detail. The CGI renderings in general are pretty stellar. Great care went into organically humanizing (or dogizing) each object, giving them distinct personalities like human characters. Despite the complaints I have heard, great care has gone into crafting the Beast’s appearance: he is sufficiently scary when fighting wolves or lashing out, and properly humanized as the story rolls along. When the singing starts, like a roaring rapid, it’s best if you just go with the flow and let the movie’s infectious energy sweep over you.
Turns out, though, musicals need filler. Beauty and the Beast tries the justification game, crafting reasons for some of the perceived oversights the first film neglected to explain. Results, sadly, are more negative than positive. The bright spots are tiny (like how Belle got the beast onto her horse after he saves her from danger), and genuinely moving (what happened to Belle’s mother, a character highlight for Beauty and Beast). On the other hand, after Gaston gets called out on his lies, why would everyone get swept up to kill the Beast when 1) they never saw it in reality and 2) he’s a fraud? Why would the enchantress punish the workers of the castle because they didn’t raise the beast even though he’s not their kid? Why do the French hate literacy for women? The bad explanations in the 2017 version just raise more questions than answers.
I don’t know if you remember, but The 1991 Beauty and the Beast was so good that it was nominated for Best Picture. The core story is powerful enough that the flawed update still hits you right in the heart. The last thing I will address is those people objecting to the 2017 Beauty and the Beast because LeFou is gay. I have two things to say:
- Your concerns will be more reasonable if you also objected to a woman falling in love with a goat like creature, but that won’t happen because
- You forgot the greatest lesson of the movie: beauty lies within. I hope you take a minute, like I will, and try to find the beauty within everyone before judging them so harshly.
Best movie I’ve seen in a very long time. Go see it!!! Classic Disney story telling, a wonderfully talented and sparklingly diverse cast, gorgeous to look at hear. Wasn’t looking forward to what I feared was another over-produced Hollywood blockbuster but this made me feel all the great emotions I had as a kid going to a big movie event. Loved it!! Owen, you’re overthinking it.