Beauty and the Beast (2017)
19KDie Schöne und das Biest: Directed by Bill Condon. With Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Josh Gad. A selfish Prince is cursed to become a monster for the rest of his life, unless he learns to fall in love with a beautiful young woman he keeps prisoner.
“Exceptionally well-done live action remake to one of my favorite Disney animated classics. Great casting, well-acted, amazing CGI affects, and memorable musical numbers. The story-line is pretty much similar with the animated version, but with some nice background story additions about Belleu0026#39;s mother and the Beast/Princeu0026#39;s father. Also liked the linking of magical enchantress to the villager u0026quot;outcastu0026quot; commoner Agathe. The 3 new songs u0026quot;Days In The Sunu0026quot;, u0026quot;How Does A Moment Last Foreveru0026quot;, and u0026quot;Evermoreu0026quot; added nice depth and background to this live-action version.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe 2 acting performances which stood out were Emma Watson (Belle) and Luke Evans (Gaston). They both brought their animated characters to real-life as well as could be imagined. Emma Watson gave a charming, intelligent, sincere, and radiant performance as Belle. She performed her various singing moments admirably and with good emotion for a 1st time singer in a movie. It would be hard to imagine another actress who could have played this role of Belle as well as Emma Watson. She has made a nice transition from her childhood acting role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movies to Belle in u0026quot;Beauty u0026amp; The Beastu0026quot;. Luke Evans gave an entertaining, profoundly over-the-top, and eventually villainous performance as Gaston. His singing prowess and theater background came through in his 2 musical numbers. Next to the CGI driven u0026quot;Be Our Guestu0026quot; and u0026quot;Evermoreu0026quot;, Gastonu0026#39;s 2 musical numbers were among the most memorable musical moments.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe other supporting cast members, from Ewan McGregor as Lumiere, Ian McKellan as Cogsworth, Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts, and Kevin Kline as Maurice fit their roles very well and pitch perfect also. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe only reasons I only gave the remake 9 stars out of 10 are the Beast/Prince character and the ending felt a little rushed. As far as the Beast/Prince, his performance felt a bit too understated and smug at first compared to the animated version. His efforts to gain Belleu0026#39;s affection had more of a plan in the animated version than this live action version. The one scene where this difference stands out is when the Beast/Prince introduces Belle to his large library room. It is different and not as planned compared to the animated version. Also, would have preferred that the Beast had more human acting moments after his transformation back to a Prince. Dan Stevens still gave a very good performance as Beast/Prince, but just not up to the level of excellence as the rest of the cast. This brings me to the ending, which felt a little rushed. It would have been nice to extend the ending a little bit longer to get to know the human version of the castle characters after the curse was broken and their transformation back to human form was completed. Minor criticisms, but very few movies can be perfect…lol.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOverall, great live-action remake by Disney. Well-cast, beautifully performed, and expertly directed. After u0026quot;Beauty u0026amp; The Beastu0026quot; and u0026quot;Jungle Booku0026quot;, looking forward to more Disney live-action remakes. I believe u0026quot;The Lion Kingu0026quot; is up next.”
