Beauty and the Beast follows Belle (Emma Watson) as she lives her life in France. She is a bit of a social outcast, due to her love of books, and is constantly hounded for marriage by the village tough guy Gaston (Luke Evans). Her father disappears, and it is discovered he is being held by the Beast (Dan Stevens) at his castle. Belle finds her father at the castle and tricks him into letting her take his place as a prisoner. She steadily forms a relationship with the “people” in the castle, taking a special interest in the beast, and a romance blooms. The story follows many of the same beats as the original, though this is not just a beat-by-beat remake of the original. Some new scenes have been added to flesh out the story, but it is debateable whether or not they were really needed.
Much of the music in the film are classic songs from the original musical. These mainly translate well to live action, with songs like “Be Our Guest”. A bit strangely, some new songs are added to the film, and although they are not bad, they break the pacing a bit and have no real reason to be in the movie. The singing is also alright. Emma Watson's singing voice is good, but it is not as suitable as Paige O’Hara’s voice. Luke Evans’ voice is great, especially in his main song, “Gaston.”
The visuals of the film are also pretty standard. Nothing in the visuals truly pops out. The living furniture and household items, although they look good, are the type of computer generated imagines seen from Disney before. The makeup and costume design are very good. The Beast was very well done and benefits from using a practical costume and effects to give him his look and makes him seem realistic.
Beauty and the Beast is a passable film. Nothing in the remake truly stands out that improves the original. The visuals are just okay. The music ranges from good to passable. If you enjoy Disney's live action films so far or just have a love for Disney, you could get into it, but I was not able to truly enjoy it.
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