Beauty and the Beast

Sure its a Rehash, but its a Gorgeous Rehash                    3/5


Musical
     As advertised, all the familiar songs are here as well as some well preformed new ones

Set Design
     The Castle, the halls and even the town is all jaw dropping

Expertly Casted
     Emma Watson as Belle, Evens as Gaston, McGregor as Lumiere and McKellen as Cogsworth all own their roles like they were born to play them

Standout
    Evermore, the new song sung by Dan Stevens, is one of the best new additions

Rotten Tomatoes 78%                                  Cinemascore: A

You probably have already decided if this was something you were interested in seeing, and judging by the +170million$ opening Disney has no problem with that, but its hard to approach a movie thats essentially a direct remake of the original. A good movie is a good movie, never mind the circumstances of its existence. Since Beauty and the Beast is a shot for shot retelling of the Disney classic it is striped of much of the original's depth but the quality and fun remains preserved. What elevates Beauty and the Beast above the original is personified in the film's suburb set and costumes design. Visually this film is superior, however considering its direct transition to live action it is crippled dramatically with pacing issues, pacing issues the animation could be forgiven for.

Im not going to bother explaining the plot with this one, its "a tale as old as time" so I'm assuming you know the details. If the trailers failed to do the trick, Beauty and the Beast opens with a shot for shot adaptation of the song Belle much like the animation sung competently by Watson. However as the film goes on its flaws become all the more apparent as a direct result of its pure adaption. Pacing is difficult in any movie, and depending on the story the pacing needs to accelerate or decelerate in order to best accommodate the scene. Animation is naturally very fast paced; disney in particular animates with bright color pallets, breathing life into their characters and invoking excitement and empathy. With animations, fast cuts and fades are common and the film moves scene to scene. However in standard filmmaking, this kind of pacing can be jarring. Almost every scene in Beauty and the Beast ends with a fast cut, and fades in-between time make thematic since but pull the attention from the screen. This is where direct adaptation is not the best idea. The film tries to compensate for this since of pace by adding more behind Gaston and the Beast but its clear this was a patch for the larger problems.

Fortunately Beauty and the Beast makes up for its dramatic flaws with a visual element. Sets like the castle foyer, the West Wing, the ball room and even the tavern are all magnificently realized. Taking advantage of its French setting, the costumes are as eye-catching as possible, emulating sixteenth century Versailles. However even more of a standout was realized with Gaston and his war jacket, or my favorite the Beast in his torn rags. The creators behind the sets and costumes held nothing back bringing about the best reason to check out the remake of this animation classic.

Beauty and the Beast excels in some areas over the original and stumbles in others, but that with all remakes is to be expected. The better version of this story exist in animation, its pacing and style plays to its mediums strengths rather than hindering in. As a study in design the remake triumphs taking advantage of its massive budget and love for the source material. This is not a bad movie by any regards, but there really isn't a point to this review;  If you haven't seen the original, check out either one because their both great movies. Your enjoyment of Beauty and the Beast is completely dependent on your love for the original, if you loved that movie you'll love this one too.