• Consequence
  • Music
  • Film
  • TV
  • Heavy
Menu Consequence
Menu Shop Search Newsletter
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Live
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Contest
Advertisement
  • Reviews
  • Film Reviews

Film Review: Beauty and the Beast

Disney's latest live-action remake mimics the original with little room for the new

C

Directed by

  • Bill Condon

Starring

  • Dan Stevens
  • Emma Watson
  • Luke Evans
  • Ewan McGregor

Release Year

  • 2017

Rating

  • PG
Advertisement
Blake Goble
March 17, 2017 | 7:45am ET

    Let’s be upfront. From a consumer reporting standpoint, Bill Condon’s Beauty and the Beast is not the best deal. As a production, it’s a kindhearted but over-dressed affair. As a movie, well, you know there’s already a perfect 1991 Disney film out there. This remake is too close to the Best Picture-nominated classic to justify the filigree of this “special edition” live-action update.

    Which is to say – if the source film’s successes and best qualities are any indication – audiences fresh to this spin on Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve’s novel will enjoy the new Beauty and the Beast. The initiated, however, will likely wonder what the endgame was here beyond the obvious money to be made on a familiar IP. And at its worst, the new film is visually overcooked, lacking the focus, pop, and emotional brevity of its inspiration. To quote the talking clock in the ’91 movie, “If it’s not baroque, don’t fix it.”

    Roughly a dozen film adaptations, a world of Disney Princess paraphernalia, and a Meat Loaf music video later, here’s yet another Beauty and the Beast. But, to its modest credit, at least this version lacks zoophilia. This movie, as you might have guessed, parties very much like it’s 1991: covered in lace, frilly and frolicking in a vague and out-of-time France. What’s it like seeing the same fabulist affair with actors and CGI? Disappointing, given the film’s nominal attempts at innovation.

    Advertisement
    Related Video

    Stop us if you’ve heard this one. Belle (Emma Watson) is a young woman with a song in her heart, and her nose in a book. She dreams of a world beyond her “provincial’ life, and the drooling whims of a town bully by the name of Gaston (Luke Evans, with what appears to be a comically painted cleft chin). She’s a loner. A girl with a flighty father (Kevin Kline) and a tragic past. But Belle is determined, and Condon presents her as plucky, doe-eyed and merry, singing despite the glowering condemnations of her stuck-up town.

    Meet Beast (Dan Stevens, under thousands of hours of computer-rendered fur). Or rather, a foppish prince named Adam, who runs afoul of a sorceress trying to find shelter from a storm. Adam callously rejects the sorceress, and for his transgression he’s morphed into a fuzzy nightmare with horns and the face of a bison. Adam’s castle is transformed into a gothic series of spindles and gargoyles, forever shrouded by snow and night. Adam’s staff become anthropomorphic objects, trapped in the castle as well. Lumière (Ewan McGregor), Adam’s royal valet, is now a talking, wooing candelabra with a thick French patois. Housemaid Mrs. Potts (Emma Thompson) becomes a teapot. Cogsworth (Ian McKellen), the butler, is now an ornate clock with hands for a mustache. The only way for everyone to get back to normal is for Adam the Beast to find true love and break the curse, not just for himself, but for his castle and its staff.

    Belle’s father gets lost, and finds the Beast’s castle by accident. The Beast makes him a prisoner. Belle rescues her father by becoming the Beast’s prisoner in a trade. At first she laments, woeful that she may never see her father again. But guess what? Belle and the Beast grow on each other. They learn to care for one another. Maybe they could even learn to…love. It’s the classic opposites-attract narrative. Belle is intelligent, stubborn, and selfless. Adam is filled with rage and bitterness, but with a beating heart beneath the wild veneer. They dance. They share stolen glances, talk of Shakespeare, and trade snowballs. A “will they”/”won’t they” blooms, and it’s a race to the finish for Beast to break his spell.

    (Ranking: Every Disney Song From Worst to Best)

    Advertisement

    If it isn’t abundantly clear by now, Condon keeps things the same as they ever were. The script is a trumped-up duplication, right down to the line reads and character designs. It’s still full of Disney glitz. It’s still a romance in a classically staged tradition. Lumière still sings “Be Our Guest,” albeit without Jerry Orbach’s gravelly tenor. Belle’s famed yellow dress is made tangible and opulent with golden lining. Adam’s famed castle is now a living, breathing construct made of props, sets, and digital augmentations. It’s a thickly framed facsimile, and Condon savors the details, albeit with a literally darker focus.

    It’s somewhat pointless to critique the plotting, given that Condon and his writers Stephen Chbosky and Evan Spiliotopoulos adhere reverently to the 1991 film, and the emotional beats and placement of music still work, if mostly out of kneejerk familiarity. Maybe the story’s so strong that the straightforward is irrelevant. But Beauty lacks surprise, or invention. It’s just a loving homage. Watson sings well – but not as passionately as Paige O’Hara. Stevens captures the frustration of the Beast, but his pathos and expressions are buried under gray-brown effects. Ultimately, the new Beauty and the Beast is best approached as a tribute.

    Condon attempts to justify Disney’s revival by adding a few little touches, and pads out the plot with brief new songs, expanded music from the original, and the general embellishments that comes with stretching an 85-minute movie to 129 minutes. There are deceased mother backstories for both Belle and the Beast that tie the film to historical French plagues. Belle lives up to her failed promise to see new places from the first film by visiting Paris – and singing a tiny song about “the Paris of my childhood” inside the windmill in which she was raised. Le Fou (Josh Gad), Gaston’s lackey, is now gay, which is a great step for Disney, even if the character’s actions are predictable and ultimately uninteresting. Kline opines for his lost love in a one-minute song that won’t work its way into anyone’s ears anytime soon. These flourishes pile on and distract from the already strong central romance, and Alan Menken’s even stronger music.

    (Read: From The Little Mermaid to Tarzan: Ranking the Disney Renaissance)

    Advertisement

    The film also revels in its production design, offering a gilded staging, but the effect is like watching a live Pinterest board of favorite moments and scenes, done up in exhaustive rococo and gold fileting. There’s something about this style of remake that opens itself to easy criticism, because Condon’s obsession with the details disallows him from ever being truly creative. We get it, leafing and buttresses are fanciful and decorative, and they resemble the animated version. But this film’s designs arenever as inventive as the dancing Busby Berkeley plates from the Disney original, or even the moving arm candelabras of Cocteau’s La Belle et la Bête.

    The production bends to the original’s will, slavishly re-creating scenes and musical numbers almost shot for shot, but a little darker since modern digital cinematography lacks the clarity of old-fashioned line-and-pencil work. A good example: remember the yellow and blue ballroom dance? It’s here. And it’s darkened by 30%, filled with low-contrast flickers of artificial night lighting. Sometimes, bright blues and yellows are easier on the eyes, and have more life.

    The movie is like a second verse, sung a little louder and just a little bit worse. Julie Taymor’s stage rendition of The Lion King used that film’s popular soundtrack to offer a different, imaginative experience. Last year’s The Jungle Book, while also set up with the original movie’s tunes, explored old ideas with expressive, naturalistic CGI. But Condon doesn’t mess around. This film could have done much worse, but it certainly doesn’t strive to top or reinvent the 1991 film in any meaningful way.

    Advertisement

    The fact that this Beauty and the Beast offers the same sensations that one could get from, say, buying the recent 25th anniversary re-release of Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise’s musical masterpiece on home video leaves you asking: why not just watch that instead? It’s a swifter, brighter film, and likely a cheaper buy than a pair of 3D tickets. Any additions to this new version feel like adornments and supplementary features at best.

    But if you’re still interested, be our guest.

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
Advertisement

More on this topic

  • Bill Condon
  • Dan Stevens
  • Disney
  • Emma Thompson
  • Emma Watson
  • Ewan McGregor
  • Ian McKellen
  • Josh Gad
  • Kevin Kline
  • Luke Evans

Sign up for updates

Subscribe to our email digest and get the latest breaking news in music, film, and television, tour updates, access to exclusive giveaways, and more straight to your inbox.

Advertisement

Popular Stories

2023 Grammy Awards: Harry Styles, BeyoncƩ, and Brandi Carlile Among Big Winners

Music

2023 Grammy Awards: Harry Styles, BeyoncƩ, and Brandi Carlile Among Big Winners

Ozzy Osbourne

Heavy Consequence

2023 Grammys: Ozzy Osbourne Wins Two Awards

Advertisement

Legendary Artists, Iconic Photo Prints Now On Sale!

Legendary Artists, Iconic Photo Prints Now On Sale!

SNL Casts Pedro Pascal in Dystopian Mario Kart Parody

TV

SNL Casts Pedro Pascal in Dystopian Mario Kart Parody: Watch

AMC Theaters Will Price Movie Tickets Based on Seat Location

Film

AMC Theaters Will Price Movie Tickets Based on Seat Location

Latest Stories

B-
Skinamarink Review Kyle Edward Ball

Skinamarink Review: Great Experimental Horror That May Leave You Unsatisfied

February 3, 2023

B
Knock at the Cabin (Universal Pictures)

Knock at the Cabin Review: M. Night Shyamalan Offers a Chilling Treatise on Belief

February 3, 2023

Groundhog Day Bill Murray Anniversary

Groundhog Day at 30: Bill Murray Finds Freedom While Trapped in a Nightmare

February 2, 2023

Sundance 2023 Film Reviews

Sundance 2023 Review Roundup: The Best Films We Saw This Year

January 30, 2023

A-
Infinity Pool Review Alexander Skarsgard

Infinity Pool Sends You Down a Road of Hedonistic Excess (In a Good Way): Review

January 27, 2023

B+
Netflix You people

You People Review: Eddie Murphy and Jonah Hill Star in a Funny and Refreshing Update of a Familiar Tale

January 27, 2023

B-
Jamojaya Rich Brian Sundance Review

Rich Brian Juggles Family, Music, and Culture in Jamojaya: Sundance Review

January 25, 2023

B-
Cat Person Review Nicholas Braun

The New Yorker Bad-Date Story Gets Frustratingly Literal in Cat Person: Sundance Review

January 25, 2023

Advertisement

News

  • Music
  • New Music
  • Album Streams
  • Upcoming Releases
  • Tours
  • Film
  • TV
  • Pop Culture

Reviews

  • Music Reviews
  • Film Reviews
  • TV Reviews
  • Concert Reviews
  • Festival Reviews

Features

  • Editorials
  • Interviews
  • Cover Stories
  • Lists
  • Guides
  • CoSign
  • Song of the Week

Live

  • Tickets
  • Festival News
  • Tour Dates
  • Photo Galleries
  • Music Instruments & Gear

Heavy

  • News
  • Interviews
  • Concerts

More

  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Wellness
  • Giveaways

Other sites

  • Heavy Consequence
  • Consequence Media
  • Modern Drummer
  • About
  • Privacy policy
  • Advertising
  • Work For Us
  • Terms
  • Contact
  • Copyright
  • Do Not Sell My Personal Information

Download our app

  • Get it on the App Store
  • Get it on Google Play
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitch
  • Tiktok
Consequence
Current story

Film Review: Beauty and the Beast

Menu Shop Search Newsletter
Consequence
News
  • News
  • Music
  • New Music
  • Album Streams
  • Upcoming Releases
  • Tours
  • Film
  • TV
  • Pop Culture
Reviews
  • Music Reviews
  • Film Reviews
  • TV Reviews
  • Concert Reviews
  • Festival Reviews
Features
  • All Features
  • Editorials
  • Interviews
  • Cover Stories
  • Lists
  • Guides
  • CoSign
  • Song of the Week
Live
  • Tickets
  • Festival News
  • Tour Dates
  • Photo Galleries
  • Music Instruments & Gear
Podcasts
  • The Opus
  • Kyle Meredith With...
  • Stanning BTS
  • The Story Behind the Song
  • The What
  • Going There with Dr. Mike
  • The Rome and Duddy Show
Videos
  • Interviews
  • Two for the Road
  • First Time I Heard
  • When I Made
  • Battle of the Bandmates
  • Peer 2 Peer
  • Essays
  • Fan Theories
Heavy
  • News
  • Interviews
  • Concerts
  • Premieres
  • Culture
  • Beyond the Boys Club
  • Mining Metal
Shop
  • Shop
  • Giveaways

Follow Consequence

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitch
  • Tiktok
Close
Close