With the number of trends Hollywood has been through in recent years (remakes, reboots, genre films), one of the most interesting has been the live-action versions of both modern and classical animated films, with Disney at the forefront. From “Cinderella” to “The Jungle Book,” this trend has no real end in sight, and the latest one to get this treatment is the first feature-length animated film nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, “Beauty and the Beast”.
Directed by Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, Mr. Holmes), this telling stars Dan Stevens (Legion, The Ticket), Emma Watson (Noah, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone), Luke Evans (Furious 7, Robot Chicken), Josh Gad (Frozen, 21), Kevin Kline (Dave, A Fish Called Wanda), Ian McKellen (X-Men, The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings), Emma Thompson (Love Actually, Burnt), and Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting, Black Hawk Down), it is the timeless tale of The Beast (Stevens), formerly a thoughtless and selfish prince who gets cursed who must find true love before a magic rose loses all of its petals or he will stay in beastly form for eternity. Along comes Belle (Watson), who ends up being a prisoner of the beast in his castle.
It is basically the same story of the timeless animated classic that we all know with no major variations from the original. There are also songs in the film from the original, continuing the good mix of the music and singing in the film. Watson and Stevens have good chemistry together as the leads, but I have to give my shout out to Kline, whose great mannerisms and perfectly played the role of Belle’s father, Maurice. There are also many vocal roles like Thompson as Ms. Potts and McKellen as Cogsworth, which are great and made me not think of them as the actor but as the actual animated object they portray, which is a huge compliment from me.
We were able to screen this film in 3-D, which I think enhanced the film and is worth the extra cost. There are a few scenes where the colors used put me in awe, and the CGI is so good that it just blended into the actual footage. This is a time where I am glad they have added a new twist to a timeless classic, so I will definitely recommend this film as a twilight or full price showing.