Beauty and the Beast

The work done in the fairy tale and musical aspects is absolutely outstanding, while the costumes, set design, choreography, and Emma Watson's eyes are captivating, and the music enchants the heart more and more. This film fulfilled everything that was promised during the long wait. (03/21/2017)

I've loved the original since I was a child, and I know every scene by heart, so maybe I was too critical the first time I watched this film. At its core, this tale has everything the original has, and then some. Let's start with the songs, Alan Menken created a musical masterpiece in 1991, his songs are captivating and immortal, listening to them always warms my heart. In 2017, he adds a couple of new ones that are also melodic, easy to remember, and that keep the spirit of the original songs. They also added some pretty good new scenes that explain a bit more about the main characters. As for the cast, I was very happy with Dan Stevens, he convinced me of his acting qualities a long time ago and he portrays the Beast beautifully, and they also did a great job translating his real facial expressions to the final beast form – but more of the visual effects later. Emma Watson seemed a bit too stiff at times, but otherwise she handled it well, including the singing. The best is perhaps Luke Evans, who physically and vocally resembles his animated character the most and his antics are very enjoyable. I'm incredibly ashamed that I didn't recognize Ewan McGregor – and I've listened to the Moulin Rouge soundtrack at least a thousand times – he handled the French accent brilliantly. The rest of the cast is just perfect, including Ian McKellen, who will always be a heartthrob of mine. Finally, I'll mention the visuals, which are a chapter in themselves. In the cinema I regretted not having my glasses with me to enjoy the wonderful effects sharply enough. The "Be our guest" scene was the one I was most curious about and it exceeded my expectations – what am I going to go into here, absolutely all the visuals were simply amazing, from the aforementioned Beast, to the village, to the castle decorations, to Bella's iconic dress, everything. (05/29/2017)

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)

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)

I can't help but feel that making a remake of an animated film that is already good and just giving it a visually stunning live-action adaptation isn't enough for me to be truly excited about the film. Beauty and the Beast is not a bad movie, but it's not a great movie either. Plus, the story just ends badly. He should have stayed in animal form. (06/05/2017)