I'm sure we all know by now, Beauty and the Beast is the adaptation of the 1991 Disney animation. Rather cleverly, the trailer for the film is exactly the same as the cartoon, and that really intrigued me. I must be honest now, I wasn't a massive Beauty and the Beast fan as a child - I had a few Disney videos - Cinderella, Jungle Book and Lady and the Tramp, and they would get played on repeat. I used to hammer those videos, so much so that they went fuzzy and the sound went funny. We did get videos from the library, so I have seen Beauty and the Beast before (obviously) but just not ten thousand times. I'm letting you know, as I know that people who were obsessed with the film as kids will love this for the nostalgic factor, but that's not where I'm coming from with my angle on the movie.
I'm sure we all know the story, but it follows Belle (Emma Watson) as she finds her dad (Kevin Kline) imprisoned by a beast in an old castle. She offers to take his place, and becomes held captive herself, surrounded by talking furniture, and slowly falls in love with her incarcerator. Writing down that plot sounds like it's an absolute nightmare to be honest, it sounds like classic Stockholm Syndrome- get her out. She's much better off with the little snake Gaston (Luke Evans) who's obsessed with marrying her. He's a right little creep but at least he doesn't literally capture her and keep her hostage. I'm starting to wonder if this film is really something children should be watching, but I digress...
Without me finding anymore plot holes in a film with an obvious moral of 'beauty is more than skin deep', I'll let you know that I did love some of the songs. 'Be Our Guest' (See My Vest anyone? No?) and 'Tale as Old as Time' are absolute bangers, and really bought the fun musical theatre element, and that nostalgic factor. It was a bit cheesy at times, and the autotune on Watson at the beginning was a bit nuts, but it's Disney, that's what it's meant to be. There were some massive nods to musical theatre and I think the film could translate fantastically to the stage, but I guess it's a bit overdone in pantomime season.
I think Evans was great as Gaston, but I don't think that Watson as Belle was an incredible performance. There was nothing wrong with it, and I really like her as a person, but sometimes I find her hard to identify with in a film. I don't know if it was because her role as Hermione wasn't a million miles away (castles, beasts, bit of a know it all), but I found her a bit stuck up (?) in the character, which I don't remember from the original - I remember more of an outcast.
The other thing that I couldn't get my head round, was the fact that this is a kids film, and it's something that will be great for parents to see with their children; because of the fact that it's something they will have enjoyed themselves as kids, yet it's 2hrs 10mins. I struggled to get through it and I'm 24 not 6. I don't understand how it was so long, as I do remember it being similar to what I had watched as a child, but considering the original is 1hr 24mins, I don't understand where this extra 45 mins came from.
Overall, I enjoyed the songs, I enjoyed the effects and the magic of the story. It's an easy watch (unless you go off on one like me) and it's a fun family film. However, I can only give it a 6.5/10. I come to this conclusion, because if I wanted to watch Beauty and the Beast, I'd watch the original, and second to watching this film, I'd watch a film with a similar concept, and more laughs - SHREK.
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