Beauty and the Beast (2017) – It’s time to say Bonjour again!

Photo supplied by Disney.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Not content with the continual domination that the Star Wars franchise still manages to present, Disney have found a new way of expanding their conglomerate empire, no doubt triggered from the success of 2015’s live action remake of Cinderella; through reimagining Disney classics and getting the hottest celebs to star in them. Beauty and the Beast may just seem like another brick adding to Disney’s path of thunder and with a huge fan base, the pressure was surely on for Bill Condon to deliver, especially as he quoted the original Disney version of B&B as “a perfect film”. Instead of treading the dangerous path of reinvention, he has decided to stick as much to the original film as feasibly possible, making this more of a comparable tribute, rather than a standalone Disney production.

Most are aware of this tale as old as time, but for those who aren’t, Beauty and the Beast depicts the story of how a head-strong, pretty book-worm full of pre-feminist ideals, finds herself a prisoner in a mystical castle, full of magical, talking appliances such as Mrs. Potts the teapot, Lumiere the candelabra and Cogsworth the antique clock. Her captor is the very large, very hairy Beast (horns and all) who was cursed by an enchantress for his vanity and selfishness! The only way to break the spell is for the Beast to fall in love and earn love in return, before an enchanted rose loses its last petal; if not “he will be doomed to remain a Beast for all time!” You can understand why Beauty and the Beast is unarguably one of Disney’s most treasured productions, having been the first to win two Academy Awards for Best Music Original score AND song in 1992, along with other notable wins such as two Golden Globes and four Grammies! Good luck Condon, ha!

The tale is still as old as time, but Condon does utilise his two-hour long screen time but adding a unfamiliar scenes explaining some unanswered questions us fans had about the plot in the original B&B e.g. What happened to Belle’s mother? What about Beast’s parents? Or how does the grandest, creepiest castle remain undiscovered and completely forgotten about by everyone in the nearby village until Belle’s father finds it 10 years later? 

Photo supplied by Disney.

What really makes this film attractive is the casting of Harry Potter’s Emma Watson as our heroine Belle! Having followed fan-inspired Disney art (no shame) for some years, I have been privy to the numerous photo-shopped images of Watson as Belle and the thousands of comments exclaiming how great she’d be in this role. Same goes for The Hobbit’s Luke Evans, who has been in the running for Gaston since he first sported those long black locks in the LOTR prequels. When Disney announced these two castings, I was highly optimistic for this new film and as a Downton Abbey fan, I was also pleased to see Dan Stevens attain the role of The Beast. There is a twist however…can any of these actors sing? 

Condon’s decision to make his production feature all the same adored songs sung by the cast, raised expectations even more, myself included, but for all their best efforts…I think most of them pulled it out of the bag. If it weren’t for composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman (also joined by Tim Rice) returning to this new two-hour long project to provide their same euphonious genius seen previously, the soundtrack wouldn’t be as half as appealing! 

Always a surprise hearing such famous stars have a good singing voice, more so for Watson than anybody whose version of ‘Belle' is in no way ‘provincial’ but still not quite powerful enough to be ‘adventuring in the great wide somewhere’. Josh Gad takes on the role of Lefou with the same engaging charisma of his character Olaf in Frozen, but far less humour in his dialogue. Evans is a fine Gaston and as much as he may resemble the muscly, self-absorbed villain in looks, he doesn’t reach the same vocal territory that Richard White governed in the original. 

The best moments are owed to Ewan McGregor’s performance as Lumiere, with his delightful rendition of ‘Be Our Guest’ being a huge highlight, which I wish was taken advantage of more! His adequate French accent wasn’t bad either. I must mention Emma Thompson a.k.a Mrs. Potts who tackled the film’s iconic anthem Beauty and the Beast…with disastrous consequences. Far too cockney and not enough grace in her performance, mixing up Mrs. Potts’ class for Eliza Doolittle’s argot…bring back Lansbury! Condon introduces a few new numbers to the soundtrack including ‘Evermore’ a song performed by the soulful Beast (Daniel Stevens) and ‘How Does as a Moment Last Forever’ performed by Belle (Emma Watson) which are both silent successes in aiding the film’s prolonged pacing. 

Be Our Guest Sequence. Photo supplied by Disney

The set-design and VFX in this film are the only possible improvement on the original production. All the incredible CGI used to animate the crockery during the festive showstopper “Be Our Guest”, marvels us with a celebration of colour and craft. The castle showboats exquisite furnishings, grand turrets full of decay and the grandest, cleanest ballroom you’ve ever seen in a cursed castle! The CG still remains patchy in areas where the Beast is concerned, whose face is more alike to a gentle buffalo with vampire fangs and a pair of stag antlers than the fierce, small horned beast in the original; oddly enough that one showed more expression and velocity in its movement than Steven’s mo-cap’ed hybrid. I imagine the visual artists’ were let loose on this one.

Prince Adam's Castle. Photo supplied by Disney.

I’ve featured many comparisons to the original, but is that actually what Condon wants from us? You can’t deny the film follows the path of its predecessor in many appreciative ways and although it hasn’t ruined nor overwhelmed the original, I feel as if this version is the spoilt child who was given all the riches and screen-time available, but in the end, its still the less lavish and plainer kid who still manages to innocently possess our hearts and spirit in a completely unbeastly fashion. 

Post by Rebecca Jennifer Munns