Beauty and the Beast. Live action.
The second I saw that this was actually going to happen I was so excited. As a child, Cinderella was my favorite. Growing up I realized that Cinderella wasn’t realistic for me because I would have to have blonde hair… And while The Little Mermaid was my favorite story, Belle quickly took the place as favorite princess.
I love the story of Beauty and the Beast, the idea that love is not necessarily born in people but that some people have to learn not just how to love but what love is.
If you don’t know the story of Beauty and the Beast then well… I’m sorry. While I don’t intend to spoil anything I’m sure I’ll ‘give something away.’ I’m going to break up this review into three sections : artistry, acting, social commentary.
Artistry
I, for one, loved Belle’s ballgown. I loved that it was simple enough for recreation and allowed real movement during the dance. Also, sorry, there’s going to be a lot of “I loved…” because I really do love this movie. I thought that the actual figurines, i.e. the candelabra, feather duster, etc. were done incredibly well, but the faces were just a bit too strange… .I thought it would cause a bigger issue while watching the movie but the less I scrutinized the more I was able to accept the over the top realistic faces.
You could most definitely tell that the little town they lived in was a full set, there was no movement, no taking you off to a tiny town in France, I didn’t feel truly transported.
I appreciated the decisions they made when adding story elements, I think that the addition of what happened to Belle’s mother was beautifully done. I liked that they made Maurice seem less nutty, the addition of Mr. Potts was adorable.
Acting
Now, I’m not the type to get hung up on actresses and actors only playing one character so there is no love lost between myself and Hermione just because Emma Watson played Belle. I can see how people were mad at her for her stiff acting. It’s hard playing such a big role in both the way it was originally intended and the way your current production staff is asking you to play it.
Gaston and Beast were equally well played. Some of the overacting, the wardrobe in particular, was a bit grating but it played into the whole movie.
Social Commentary
Alright. I’m sure you’ve seen the articles that are concerned with the openly gay character in Beauty and the Beast. And if you’ve seen those then you’ve also seen the response that is something along the lines of “They’re mad about a gay character but not beastiality?!” Cue my hard eye roll. This movie is about emotional love, not necessarily physical love. Just saying.
I did feel a little bit like they exaggerated LeFou’s flamboyancy beyond the point of making it clear he was a gay character. I do understand that it was supposed to be comedic and it did make me laugh but I don’t know if that’s the way Disney should have gone about introducing an openly gay character. But I’m not a social psych expect so what do I know.
Overall, I truly enjoyed this movie, it was beautiful but not perfect and I was okay with that. If you’re on the fence, just go watch it, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!
What live action remake is your favorite, or what are you looking forward too?
8/10 would watch this movie again
Until next time! Xx
Team Santana 