More Beauty Than Beast

 

Beyond a doubt, the most impressive thing about the new, mostly-live-action version of Disney’s Beauty & the Beast is its visual impact. It is truly a beautiful thing to see...and I didn’t even go to a 3-D showing.

Even on opening day, I had already heard some complaints:

• “It’s boring”  -  Well, boring is in the eye of the beholder. Frankly, I think if you find this movie boring, it’s because YOU’RE boring. Sure, there are a couple spots that kind of drag (like in ANY movie, TV show, book, or life), but to label the whole film as dull is grossly exaggerating.
• “The singing is a terrible example of electronic pitch correction.”  -  I honestly do not know where this comes from. The male leads are excellent singers, and even Hermione...er...sorry...Emma Watson’s Belle can carry a tune with confidence and a pleasing tone. I was especially moved by the Beast’s mournful solo in the castle’s tower.’
•  “They made LaFou gay.”  -  This had plenty of tongues wagging, and I admit that it was something I was especially on the lookout for. What I actually saw in the movie was Josh Gad playing the character much as he was in the animated version: a slightly effeminate admirer of the biggest, baddest manly-man in town. There was one brief instance when, through an accident of choreography, LaFou ended up dancing with a minor male character who seems to have enjoyed being dressed as a woman (by the enchanted wardrobe, in the battle at the castle), but that was played as a joke, not as a “I’ve found my true love at last” moment. If there was something more overt about this in the movie, I missed it.
• “The Beast is totally CGI.”  -  I have to admit, this was a little off-putting, although, it took me just a little bit of time to decide it was true (it was that well done). Beloved and I both were surprised that the Beast didn’t involve prosthetic make-up instead of computers and pixels, but also thought that, perhaps, it was fitting, seeing as how all the other enchanted occupants of the castle were computer-generated images (Cogsworth the clock, Lumiere the candelabra, etc.). 

One minor disappointment: while having Belle wave a tree branch at the attacking wolves may have been a sideways acknowledgement of Watson’s role in the Harry Potter movies (although that would have been the biggest wand I’d ever seen), the filmmakers missed a golden opportunity by not having Josh Gad (who played the singing snowman, Olaf, in Frozen) do a double-take at a snowman or say, “I like hugs”, or get too warm standing by a fire, or SOMEthing.

One final note: I chose to attach the above picture to this review because the father-daughter relationship between Belle and Maurice, and the NON-”crazy old Maurice” way Kevin Kline played his character, were especially satisfying.

Bottom line: this is NOT simply a live-action remake of the animated classic. It is its own movie, though it includes enough of the original’s songs and iconic moments as to not disappoint fans.