When I first heard about the live-action remake for my favorite Disney classic, I immediately started comparing everything to the cartoon classic I had fallen in love with, and my standards were set extremely high. That being said, I of course bought tickets for premiere night in 3D, as any rational Disney lover with free passes for the movie theater would. Then I tried my best to ignore the news spreading about the movie, so my movie experience would be as fair and unbiased as possible.
When I sat down in the theater, with my popcorn and pop, and a (slightly unwilling, and wholly unexcited) boyfriend, I braced myself for the possibility of sheer disappointment and heartache. (Completely rational. No overreaction whatsoever.) Then it started out and it was so uniquely itself, while still capturing the essence of the cartoon film of my childhood! I was pleasantly surprised by the choice of actors and actresses, because most fit their character so amazingly! So here I'm going to divide this into two parts, pros and cons.
Pros:
1. It didn't completely destroy the cartoon predecessor's storyline, and as a result, a sense of nostalgic charm dances throughout the film. You get to hear all the classic songs, and reminisce about the good ole days when times were simpler.
2. BACKSTORY!! Personally, I am a huge sucker for good backstories, and cartoon Beauty and the Beast was lacking in much development in that department. This version, however, ties in some really incredible storylines throughout the movie that add so much depth to some otherwise flat characters, and even adds in a few characters we never knew much about before this.
3. New Songs?? Yes please! They really separate this movie from its predecessor by incorporating new songs that allow this movie to stand out. They're romantic, emotional songs that definitely stand a chance of being future Disney classics.
4. Casting. Seriously, well done. Almost every actor or actress rocked the socks off this adaptation. (Completely necessary fangirl moment approaching, be warned.) I NEED to discuss what an absolutely incredible choice Josh Gad was as Lafou. The energy and humor he brought to the character really took it to a whole new level, and he had me busting out of my chair laughing with the subtle cues he hit with his performance. 10/10 for him. Also, gay Lafou is life. Like, honestly.
5. Special effects. The CGI in this movie is so intense and well done. The cast of animate objects are so realistic looking, despite being... well, alive and stuff. The Beast's transformation from man to Beast was really incredible to see, as was him in general. Overall, I'd say these effects were executed rather flawlessly.
Cons:
1. Emma Watson's vocal range. (I want to start off by saying that I worship Emma, and I loved having her as Belle. I admire her acting skills immensely, and I by no means think I can do this better than her.) She's an incredible actress, but her musical range seemed to be lacking. Throughout the more challenging musical numbers that Belle has, I noticed that she seems to have had aid from a pitch corrector or some such software, and it was done poorly. As a result, noticeable pitch jumps can be heard throughout. It can't be detected in the easier songs, which leads me to believe it isn't an inability to sing, just a lack of range.
2.Lengthy. With an average runtime, factoring in previews and end credits, the movie runs for about 2 hours and 20 minutes. With all the additional stuff they added to this story, you don't really notice the length; however, they don't really add much time to the main plot line. Mostly the extra time goes to new songs and background stories for characters like Belle's mom, Beast's mom, and others. Overall not a huge concern of mine, but worth a mention.
3. Expressions. The real cast did fine, but due to the realism with the characters done in CGI, Mrs. Potts and the gang tended to remain expressionless throughout. It definitely made it harder to latch onto the characters as adorable, which probably is a good thing, but it took away a level of personality from these characters who basically depend on that to grow their characters.
4. Darker storylines. This tale seems to blend together the cartoon storyline with the much darker, classic fairytale it's based upon, because the stories portrayed describe both the lighter, main plot, and some seriously intense, emotional subplots. These can lead to serious discussions taking place for children old enough to understand what's going on in these scenes, so be prepared with child-friendly conversation about plagues and other fun topics!
Overall, this movie is an incredible adaptation, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing it twice (so far). As with everything in life, it isn't perfect. However, I feel it does more than what I expected it to do, and I was incredibly happy with what I saw.