Beauty and the Beast - directed by Bill Condon
Emma Watson famously backed out of "La La Land" in order to take the lead in "Beauty and the Beast" and at this point it is hard to criticise the decision.
Even though "La Land" was a critically lauded, Oscar winning money spinner "Beauty and the Beast" has already far outstripped all other movies released so far this year in terms of bums on seats and the cash that results has come rolling in.
That doesn't say anything about the quality of the film necessarily but still- it does vindicate Watson to a pretty large extent for those who claimed she had made a poor choice.
The story of Beauty and the Beast dates back to the eighteenth century and there have been several filmed versions with the most well known to modern audiences being Disney's own 1991 animated version.
This latest version is the first that I will have seen though.
The story has just not tweaked my interest in any of the previous versions and in truth the only reason that I saw this one was to check out a newly renovated local cinema and the session time worked out.
As a first timer with the story- and I stress that I know almost nothing about it beyond the basic premise- the first thing that struck me was how comfortably a tale set over 200 years ago fits in relation to the current time.
Watson's character Belle is very much a modern character.
She reads voraciously and doesn't fall for the awful 'charms' of Gaston (an excellent Luke Evans).
As a result the residents of the village in which she lives think her an odd girl.
But Belle is strong willed and the taunts don't phase her one little bit.
One other thing occurred to me too.
At about the half hour mark I was pretty sure how the whole thing was going to play out and it turned out that I wasn't even slightly wrong.
Before I continue with that thought I should first say that I enjoyed this movie even though I recognise that I am hardly the target audience.
Regardless I found the movie predictable and almost entirely lacking in suspense.
Sure- it is a fairy tale and they tend to end happily ever after and of course they should but a few unseen bumps in the road would have been nice to keep things hopping.
But no- the whole movie played out exactly as I thought it would.
Thankfully the execution is pretty good and this is an often luscious visual treat of a film.
It is not without humour but these moments are basically down to the great Kevin Kline, Josh Gad and the side characters - Emma Thompson's teapot, Gugu Mbatha-Raw's bird-duster, Ewan McGregor's candelabra and Ian McKellan's mantle clock.
These computer generated creations are wonderfully realised and terrifically voiced.
The castle in which they live is a pretty great creation too filled with interesting rooms and features just ripe for a dance sequence or a song or a romantic moment.
Which brings me to Dan Stevens as the Beast.
Somehow Stevens rises from out of the sea of visual effects applied atop his true form to give an expressive and charismatic performance.
His is perhaps my favourite performance but to be fair each and every one of the superbly cast actors do great work.
Another caveat before I stick a fork in the review.
I am not a fan of musicals give or take a "La La Land" or a "Singin' In the Rain" here or there.
"Beauty and the Beast" is very guilty of the very thing that I dislike about the genre.
It sings plot developments that would be better shown dramatically.
When it gets it right it works well - the now stupidly infamous Josh Gad 'gay' moment is a case in point.
On that note - I cannot believe that this innocuous, harmless blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment has caused such distress in Russia, Malaysia and other countries (including the US with the State of Alabama but then that was predictable)
About half of the musical moments left me bored and wishing that the plot would just advance already but admittedly the remainder were pretty good.
I would imagine anyone more tolerant of musicals would lap this up then.
"Beauty and the Beast" is a lengthy movie at two hours and ten minutes but the time went quickly enough and thanks to some stellar production design and the performances of Watson, Evans and Stevens I was pretty entertained by this film.
I have no desire to see it again but I get why somebody else might.
It's a good movie for young girls too given that it sends a clear message that being yourself and pursuing what you want to pursue are admirable traits.
I can see why Emma Watson - well known for her strong, intelligently reasoned views was drawn to this project.
And with the current nightmare going on in US politics I also understand why the dollars are rolling in as they are.
It is a story of hope where a self obsessed narcissist is defeated by a strong, intelligent person with pure intentions.
Like I said - a relevant story despite being a couple of centuries old.
RATING: 78 / 100
CONCLUSION: Frequently gorgeous to look at and with a superb cast doing great work this is a solidly entertaining movie that nonetheless feels somewhat pedestrian. The story never surprises and presumably its success indicates that people just love the story and will happily revisit it. For me this is a oncer.... a good one but still a oncer.
Starring: Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Josh Gad, Kevin Kline, Emma Thompson, Ian McKellan, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Hattie Morahan, Audra McDonald, Nathan Mack
Screenplay: Stephen Chbosky & Evan Spiliotopoulos
Music Score by: Alan Menken
Cinematography: Tobias A. Schliessler
Edited by: Virginia Katz
Running Time: 129 minutes
Language: English
Rated: PG - MIld Violence & scariness for younger viewers
Running Time: 129 minutes
Language: English
Rated: PG - MIld Violence & scariness for younger viewers
Even though "La Land" was a critically lauded, Oscar winning money spinner "Beauty and the Beast" has already far outstripped all other movies released so far this year in terms of bums on seats and the cash that results has come rolling in.
That doesn't say anything about the quality of the film necessarily but still- it does vindicate Watson to a pretty large extent for those who claimed she had made a poor choice.
The story of Beauty and the Beast dates back to the eighteenth century and there have been several filmed versions with the most well known to modern audiences being Disney's own 1991 animated version.
This latest version is the first that I will have seen though.
The story has just not tweaked my interest in any of the previous versions and in truth the only reason that I saw this one was to check out a newly renovated local cinema and the session time worked out.
As a first timer with the story- and I stress that I know almost nothing about it beyond the basic premise- the first thing that struck me was how comfortably a tale set over 200 years ago fits in relation to the current time.
Watson's character Belle is very much a modern character.
She reads voraciously and doesn't fall for the awful 'charms' of Gaston (an excellent Luke Evans).
As a result the residents of the village in which she lives think her an odd girl.
But Belle is strong willed and the taunts don't phase her one little bit.
One other thing occurred to me too.
At about the half hour mark I was pretty sure how the whole thing was going to play out and it turned out that I wasn't even slightly wrong.
 |
| Emma Watson and Dan Stevens |
Regardless I found the movie predictable and almost entirely lacking in suspense.
Sure- it is a fairy tale and they tend to end happily ever after and of course they should but a few unseen bumps in the road would have been nice to keep things hopping.
But no- the whole movie played out exactly as I thought it would.
Thankfully the execution is pretty good and this is an often luscious visual treat of a film.
It is not without humour but these moments are basically down to the great Kevin Kline, Josh Gad and the side characters - Emma Thompson's teapot, Gugu Mbatha-Raw's bird-duster, Ewan McGregor's candelabra and Ian McKellan's mantle clock.
These computer generated creations are wonderfully realised and terrifically voiced.
The castle in which they live is a pretty great creation too filled with interesting rooms and features just ripe for a dance sequence or a song or a romantic moment.
Which brings me to Dan Stevens as the Beast.
Somehow Stevens rises from out of the sea of visual effects applied atop his true form to give an expressive and charismatic performance.
His is perhaps my favourite performance but to be fair each and every one of the superbly cast actors do great work.
 |
| Luke Evans, Josh Gad and Kevin Kline |
I am not a fan of musicals give or take a "La La Land" or a "Singin' In the Rain" here or there.
"Beauty and the Beast" is very guilty of the very thing that I dislike about the genre.
It sings plot developments that would be better shown dramatically.
When it gets it right it works well - the now stupidly infamous Josh Gad 'gay' moment is a case in point.
On that note - I cannot believe that this innocuous, harmless blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment has caused such distress in Russia, Malaysia and other countries (including the US with the State of Alabama but then that was predictable)
About half of the musical moments left me bored and wishing that the plot would just advance already but admittedly the remainder were pretty good.
I would imagine anyone more tolerant of musicals would lap this up then.
 |
| Impressive production design and CG created characters are a feature |
I have no desire to see it again but I get why somebody else might.
It's a good movie for young girls too given that it sends a clear message that being yourself and pursuing what you want to pursue are admirable traits.
I can see why Emma Watson - well known for her strong, intelligently reasoned views was drawn to this project.
And with the current nightmare going on in US politics I also understand why the dollars are rolling in as they are.
It is a story of hope where a self obsessed narcissist is defeated by a strong, intelligent person with pure intentions.
Like I said - a relevant story despite being a couple of centuries old.
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