I’ve been looking forward to watching the live action Beauty and the Beast movie since I heard it was being made. I finally watched it and it was nothing like what I expected.
Although I was not expecting the movie to be a shot for shot remake of the original cartoon version, I was surprised by how different it was from my childhood favorite. The basic storyline was the same, but almost everything else was different.
There was a lot more background on the main characters and a lot of plot holes that the original left were filled. Any questions that you had while watching the original can probably be answered by the new movie. The new Beauty and the Beast was actually very logical. Well, as logical as a movie with talking furniture could possibly be.
All of the songs from the original were featured in the film and there were even some new ones. The original songs managed to fit into the movie seamlessly. None of the songs seemed to be forced in and they were all placed at the right moments. Also, the cast members’ singing was absolutely wonderful.
I originally had doubts about some of the aesthetic aspects of the movie. When I saw the trailer, I was not a fan of the look of Mrs. Potts and Chip, but they looked fine in the actual movie. Plumette and the other dusters still looked a bit odd, but their looks did make sense when you saw how they moved. Every aspect of the movie fit in with the period and overall, Beauty and the Beast was visually stunning.
I also had some doubts about Emma Watson at first. I love Emma Watson, but I was worried about how she would portray Belle when all of the insider information about the movie started coming out. The descriptions of the movie made it seem like they were trying too hard to make Belle seem like a hardcore feminist. In this Beauty and the Beast, Belle was absolutely more of a strong character, but nothing was overdone. She was still the same character and all of her actions made sense.
Emma Watson ended up being the perfect Belle. The rest of the cast was amazing as well. The costumes were beautiful and were completely correct for the time period. I was upset by Belle’s costumes after seeing the trailer and while I do prefer the originals, the new ones were still beautiful. The yellow dress was a bit simple compared to the iconic cartoon version, but I still loved it.
Beauty and the Beast was perfect. I’m usually unhappy with any sort of film adaptions, but I felt more like this was a different take on the classic tale as opposed to being a remake. I loved the movie so much and I can’t wait to see it again!