Let's Review: 2017's "Beauty and the Beast"

It’s the tale as old as time, it’s the movie that gave every bookworm the dream that one day they would find their beast and help him become the handsome prince he was meant to be. The original animated movie released by Disney in 1991 took the world by storm, being the only animated movie at the time to be nominated for the academy award for best picture. So, with success with the live action “Cinderella” back in 2015, it only made sense to follow it up with one of the studio’s most successful movies of all time. But does this new remake hold its own with the other Disney giants or does will its last petal fall leaving it to be cursed into obscurity forever. The answer…is complicated.

Now, to be fair, I went into this movie expecting to hate it or at least greatly dislike it. I went in knowing a few of the changes they had made to the story and I was starting to dread it. But after watching the movie this Friday night I really enjoyed it. That’s not to say there aren’t flaws and there were still some changes that I really didn’t like, but I had a good time and, in my opinion, the movie was overall a good film.

The two M.V.P.s of the film had to be Dan Stevens as the Beast and Luke Evans as Gaston. The two actors were fantastic in their roles and their singing was pretty on par. These two characters also express the theme that I discovered while watching this updated version of the original animated classic. This theme being change. While Stevens does an excellent job portraying the Beast starting out the movie as a selfish prince, Evans manages to express how Gaston is the hero of the village. Throughout the whole movie Evans and Stevens show the natural progression of both characters one to the true kindhearted prince he is and the other the selfish, boorish, and brainless monster that he truly is. During the mob song, there is a line added that Le Fuo, played by Josh Gad, sings that states this perfectly, 

"There's a Beast running wild there's no question,

but I fear the wrong monster's released." 

There are some changes that I did not like, that I felt added more narrative flaws than actually fixing any, but overall this movie was enjoyable. You could tell that everyone working on this movie put a lot of passion and effort into this film. The visuals were astounding and the score actually made me tear up and some points (fans of the Broadway show will especially enjoy Alan Menken's work on this movie). 

I could spend hours comparing the original animated film to this one, but just like the theme portrayed by the Beast and Gaston, this retelling of a Disney classic portrays how the audience has changed and how the story has changed with us over time. This tale maybe old as time but the way we view it changes as we grow with it. I would recommend this movie to anyone looking to have a good time at the theater. The only thing I wouldn't recomend is watching this without popcorn and a couple of tissues. The struggle is REEL.