Beauty and the Beast

I like fairy tales. But I don't think this was a fairy tale. From the beginning, I had questions about the plot and what was going on, rather than enjoying the movie. Unfortunately, the movie didn't grab me at all, the songs left me unimpressed (and I like musicals possibly even more than fairy tales), and they were at times long-winded, which the rest of the movie was, too. It didn't flow at all, I had to stop it halfway through to browse the internet just to take a break from it. The movie just didn't work at all. How did it even deal with time? I watched it with my guy and he was even more annoyed than I was. Nothing but comments about this and that, even though he's a pretty undemanding viewer. *SPOILER* For example, Gaston's fall... that one was much ado about nothing, they could easily have had him trip and it would have had the same effect. Pretty unsuccessful for me. A weaker 2 stars. (09/04/2017)

I'd been meaning to go see Beauty and the Beast. Just for Emma. But somehow I found myself in a theater watching a dubbed movie. And that half killed the movie for me. I have no idea how it would have been in the original, but I had a hard time with most of the songs in the Czech version. Otherwise, I have no major complaints about the film. The filmmakers stuck pretty closely to the source material, the cast is great, and the effects are pretty good too. (04/17/2017)

That back in the day I liked La La Land was probably amplified by the fact that, as a musical, the score was beautiful and on top of that, the movie offered a bit of fatefulness, which is something I don’t find much with musicals these days. Because I am not normally a fan of musicals… actually not at all. Well and this version of the Beauty and the Beast is exactly the kind of the bitter-sweet American musical, which is definitely good in all respects, but which gives you nothing more than that. At most, there is the visual aspect in the form of talking furniture, which is nice, but which definitely does not save the movie at all. It is incredibly average… (12/15/2017)

The remake of the classic Disney animation is a category in itself. Some ideas were executed better here, while others were suppressed. The second half works slightly better thanks to the changes. At times, it is still horrible kitsch, and I mean absolutely horrible, and the casting is dreadful. Especially in the case of Emma Watson, who is indeed the perfect girl next door, but in no way a universal beauty. And Luke Evans? He is simply wasted on such an operetta villain. Fortunately, the theme has been done so many times that there is no reason to despair and outside of Disney, you can choose, for example, the impressionistic Beauty and the Beast, the Czech Beauty and the Beast or the modern Beauty and the Beast, which may look like a Disney clone, but is actually pure French. (04/01/2024)

It will probably be a hit and little girls will like it, but I have a feeling that the world would function without any problems without the live-action version of Beauty and the Beast. Emma Watson is great, the special effects are opulent, and the production design is fantastic, but due to its excessive running time, the film starts to lose its breath in the middle and doesn't have much to tell. Yes, there are the familiar songs, but half of them are only there because they were in the animated version. And the cute talking furniture stops being entertaining after a few minutes, and when the candelabras, teapots, and clocks take up the entire space in front of the camera, it becomes quickly tiresome. A huge digital mess. But it is still a proper romantic fairytale that actually offers exactly what you expect from it. Cinderella has more likeable characters, The Jungle Book is funnier and more thrilling, but I probably never expected more from a live-action Beauty and the Beast than what we got in the cinema. So in the end, it's probably okay. And Luke Evans is amazing. (05/15/2017)