In 1989, an animated film called “The Little Mermaid” helped The Walt Disney Company’s confidence to make more animated feature films after a string of box office failures after their last hit at the time was “The Fox & The Hound.” After the The Little Mermaid was released, it became a critically acclaim box office success from movie goers & critics alike.
From 1989 to 1999, Disney went through a string of massive successful films, during the era, Disney has earned big reputation based on new generation of movie goers, revenue, awards, merchandise etc. It became a movement under the name, “The Disney Renaissance.”
In 1991, another film by Disney, released one of their infamous films of the period, that infamous film is none other than “Beauty & The Beast.” Like its predecessor The Little Mermaid, it became a critical & financial success, which later went on to earn a few Oscar nominations for “Best Original Song,” (the song that shares the title of the movie) “Best Original Score” & “Best Picture.” Only two of them one best song and musical score.
Two decades later, Disney went on to remake the beloved classics based on the company’s filmography including “Alice In Wonderland,” “Maleficent,” “Sleeping Beauty” & “The Jungle Book.” One film released on March 17, 2017, is the review I’m about to go over is the live action remake of Beauty & The Beast. Was it a massive success like the original? Let’s find out.
Keep in mind there’s gonna be some SPOILERS, if you haven’t seen the animated version of Beauty & The Beast, I highly recommend it for newcomers and it’s a requirement before seeing the new one because I’m gonna see what’s different about the remake.
Magnificent & Poo Poo Elements
Magnificent: Main cast did a wonderful job on the acting & singing, particularly Emma Watson (one of my favorite actresses/idols since her work in Harry Potter) as Belle, Dan Stevens as The Beast, Luke Evans as Gaston, & Josh Gad as Lefou. (Gaston’s sidekick)
Supporting Cast also did a decent job on the acting & singing including Ewan McGregor, Ian McKellen, Kevin Kline, Emma Thompson.
Muscial Sequences are still memorable like original, there’s also new ones added to the remake. I thought “Be Our Guest” my favorite song from the original, felt organic again.
The visual effects are very beautiful. Kinda like seeing a coloring book coming to life. I’m glad they didn’t go with the Eddie Murphy route. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s that green ghost dung called “The Haunted Mansion.”
Set pieces look authentic. They translated so well similar to the Harry Potter films.
Backstories involving Belle & The Beast are added. Belle’s was much more interesting.
The remake stayed true to the animated classic.
Poo Poo: The opening sequence is different. In the animated version, it was told in a church like window glass, but in the remake, it was told in something that resembles a music video, even The Beast (pre-transformation) looks like the love child of Lady Gaga & Evan Peters wearing that powdered wig from American Horror Story. I was the only member of the audience bursting into laughter.
The Enchantress from the original only appeared in the opening sequence, they extended her role to be front and center. Two crucial scenes made me ticked off. Number 1, Gaston made fun of her appearance as a Begger Woman, why didn’t she turn him into a frog! Number 2, she shows up to Beast’s Castle to lift the curse. As she glows to break the spell, Belle didn’t notice her! Why did they make one of the smartest animated women in Disney History, look like Leslie Nielsen playing Mr. Flippin Magoo! For Pete The Big Fat Cat’s Sake!
I hate to use the C word. Contrived (that’s the C word I had to use) Because The Enchantress’ bigger role, broke my suspension of disbelief. In the original animated film, she never appeared to lift the curse, it was the power of love that broke the curse. There’s no need to show The Enchantress.
The Final Verdict: B-
Although the remake has some flaws, the musical sequences, visual effects, acting, got me satisfied. The animated original is an A, FOR APEX. (my highest grade) The new one isn’t that bad like Tim Allen’s “The Shaggy Dog” bad, if you want to introduce your kids to see this remake, go ahead.
I forgot to address the controversy surrounding this film. When I saw it, there wasn’t a “gay moment” involving Josh Gad’s portrayal of Lefou. The “gayest moment” shows Lefou having a male dance partner. Are you kidding me! In the animated version, Gaston was dancing with Lefou as a dance partner. Just because you see two people with the same gender dancing while holding hands, doesn’t mean they’re automatically a gay couple. They’re lots of people dancing with the same gender. Dance lessons are involved!
The controversy surrounding the film, forced a bunch of bible thumping neo-confederates to ban the film from Alabama, while Russia bumped the rating to an X. If you’re gonna ban a movie, you have to see what the contents of this film contains. This isn’t “Brokeback Mountain” or “Bruno.” Beauty & The Beast didn’t go that far! Imagine if your future son or daughter will one day come out of the closet and go through all the difficult problems in our society. If my future child will someday tell me about his/her sexual orientation, I’ll help him/her accept that role and not cut him/her out of my life.
IT’S CALLED TOLERANCE PEOPLE!
Don’t give me any negative feedback, I’m just trying to spread the truth. I’m neutral to the gay community. I have no disrespect to them. I’m just giving everybody a heads up. Do me a favor and learn to spread the truth like a normal human being. Those are alternate facts by the guy who claims Josh Gad’s character is gay. He should be fired for making an unethical statement. It’s not okay to do that or you’ll commit career suicide.
I find the whole “Controversy” to be completely out of context. It has nothing to do with “Gay Propaganda.”
Nickthemoviecritic.com 