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Jan 06, 2018TheBibliopossum rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
I get why this movie is liked. It has some nice visuals, plot holes from the 1991 animated movie are fixed, and to many a fan's delight-- Emma Watson is Belle. It's a recreation of the movie we're familiar with and love, and the familiarity is part of the charm. But I don't like this movie. It's almost an exact recreation of the 1991 movie, and it's not even a good one at that. The lighting is dark to amplify the gloomy mood, but dim lighting does not make a movie better. It only makes it difficult to see. The two main leads lack the charm and personality of their animated predecessors. I was more invested in Lumiere and the Featherduster but only because Gugu Mbatha-Raw's performance was endearing. The leads aren't trained singers, which wouldn't be a problem if this wasn't a musical romantic-fantasy. But it is, and it is. It's telling when the minor characters have better singing abilities than the leads when it should be an even field. And this version of Beauty and the Beast has already been adapted as a stage musical. Do we really need another adaptation of this exact story? If you want to see a different interpretation of Beauty and the Beast, I would suggest the one on hoopla made in 2016. Or watch the series starring Ron Perlman. It's different but at least it's not a retread of the same story by the same film company.