Beauty and The beast (2017)

Disney’s live-action rendition of the 1991 animated classic, “Beauty and the Beast,” is as exactly as lush, engaging, and tuneful as you would hope this incarnation to be.

On the heels of the multi-gazillion-dollar earnings of Disney’s live-action “Cinderella” and “The Jungle Book” comes the tale of Belle and the Beast.  (This much-anticipated version currently holds the teaser trailer record of nearly 92 million views in a 24-hour period, beating out “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”)  And, by this time you very likely know that Emma Watson (of “Harry Potter” fame) is ingénue Belle, while the Beast is portrayed by Dan Stevens (of “Downton Abbey” renown). 

And, just as in the original film, French country girl, Belle, desires more than a “provincial life” and seeks to be more than the local narcissistic cad’s wife (with Luke Evans as self-involved Gaston).  Her heart’s desire (and her father’s poor directionality, with Kevin Kline as Maurice), ultimately, leads her to the Beast’s hidden, and forgotten-about, castle, where the formerly human prince and his now-objectified domestic servants have all been laboring for decades under the curse of an Enchantress (Hattie Morahan).  As the story goes, Belle exchanges her freedom for her father’s and agrees to live with the Beast “forever,” but finds that her captor is much more than what he seems and begins to fall for his reemerging humanity.

Watson is well-suited to bring headstrong Belle to life, as she readily seems fearless and resolute while still retaining the vulnerability of youth.  Unfortunately, at times, Watson’s voice seems a little less confident on the iconic tunes of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman (leading one to speculate on the use of autotune enhancements), but such moments are, thankfully, few.  Interestingly, Stevens’ fine motion-captured and digitally created mask performance of the Beast is surprisingly engaging, and even emotionally involving, although there are occasional moments that the CGI-human interaction distracts (especially in the soup-eating scene).   

Although the film is an expected by-the-numbers recreation, there are surprising small additions to the storyline. The film fleshes out several tiny plot holes from the original (e.g., telling the backstory of Belle’s mother) and adds new songs by Menken and Tim Rice (particularly the Beast’s “Evermore”), which feel like they were, perhaps, always there.  Furthermore, even though Josh Gad (“Frozen”) is a fine LeFou (Gaston’s lackey), he, too, brightens the film with his unexpected new character depth.

“Beauty and the Beast” successfully translates animation to live-action, truly bringing out “something there that wasn’t there before.”  Recommended for families, “Beauty and the Beast” is rated PG.