Review of Beauty and the Beast (2017 Movie)
When is a remake too much like the original? When is it so far off that they shouldn’t even call it a remake?
These are questions I tend to discuss with my husband whenever a remake comes out. For this one, I had to think a while about whether it was too close to the original, and what makes a remake worth doing.
Let me start off by saying, I enjoyed this movie a lot. So many of the things I loved about the animated version are present here, only in full live action form. The settings are legit, the characters cleverly rendered, most of the performances were well done. Even the music was the same.
But then, if a movie is too much the same as the original, why remake it?
This retelling of Disney’s, er, retelling is almost scene for scene the same as their cartoon. In some ways, that almost annoyed me a little, But in the end, I enjoyed the slightly different take on a few scenes, and the live action interpretation combined with an all-star cast made it worth my box office dollars. Emma’s Belle was refreshing, however, and Dan Stevens as the Beast captured my special attention. (As a Downtown Abbey fan, it’s always a treat to see “Matthew” again.) And what can be said about Obi-Wan and Gandalf playing Lumiere and Cogsworth? Nothing but good things. The only misstep was Luke Evans as Gaston, who I pictured being portrayed a bit more over the top (think Prince Edward from Enchanted). Then again, it can be tough to beat the overpumped cartoon version.
All in all, it was an enjoyable afternoon spent with my daughter at the movies, and there’s a fair chance I’ll be picking up the home version when it comes out.