Disney’s latest live-action reimagining, Beauty and the Beast starring Dan Stevens and Emma Watson, began screening Thursday night for critics.
In a sign of the studio’s confidence, Beauty and the Beast reviews were allowed to be released Friday morning. Overall, most critics so far have really liked the movie, but there are a few concerns over special effects, acting, and the purpose of the film to begin with.
Still, there appears to be a lot to like. Everyone fell in love with Josh Gad’s Le Fou, who we learned earlier this week has an “exclusively gay moment” in the film. He and Luke Evans’ Gaston appear to be two of the standouts.
All critics also seem to be in agreement that the musical numbers are very impressive, with “Gaston” being one major highlight.
‘Beauty and the Beast’ (2017) reviews:
Here are some passages from a variety of Beauty and the Beast reviews. Hypable will have its own review on release day.
Vox says that the movie is a response to all of the issues in the original:
Beauty and the Beast makes an effort to retain the magic of the original story, but also recognizes and addresses the latent issues — sexism, a lack of diversity, Belle’s Stockholm syndrome — that were baked into the first film. It recognizes its opportunity to incorporate balance and difference, and welcomes that opportunity with open arms.
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The new movie is made for fans, many of whom are now in their 30s. And to that point, it also closes all the plot holes those fans will recognize.
ScreenCrush adds that this Beauty and the Beast’s worst moments are when it tries to recreate the 1991 animated version. They add that this is a unique installment in Disney’s live-action reimagining slate thanks to its commentary on social issues.
But Beauty and the Beast is truly different, and it’s no coincidence that its progressive nature come from a director who is himself openly gay. Condon’s authorship in his treatment of the “peculiar” outsider and the ostracized beast whom people fear because he’s different, and an incredibly relevant allegory about cutting through bigotry and hatred with empathy. It’s also an entirely welcome distraction from the contemporary realities it speaks to, providing a charming moment of reprieve without repression.
The Hollywood Reporter speaks to the differences between the animated and live-action versions:
Not content to gild the lily with a couple more songs and some bling, Condon and his fellow filmmakers decorate their flower with all kinds of extras, Easter eggs and borderline excessive adornment, especially when it comes to adding in backstories.
For starters, where the 1991 version began with a stained-glass-window-style tableau, simple and to the point, to tell the origin story of the Beast, here we get a whole pre-title sequence, with scores of background artists and white ball gowns galore to introduce the proud prince (Dan Stevens from Downton Abbey, more seen than heard throughout). Within minutes, he’s cursed by a passing enchantress who (in a smart nod to Villeneuve and Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont’s 1756 version of the story) comes back into the plot later on.
The Wrap had a problem with the casting of a couple characters — namely Gaston:
And Luke Evans is not at all suited to the role of the villainous, sexy, and menacing Gaston, which requires a boisterous, preening actor who can get some hammy laughs out of being vain. Evans can only manage the menace of the part, and even his menace is too monotonous and heavy-spirited. (A young Kevin Kline might have played this role perfectly, but he is wasted here as Belle’s father.)
Variety liked the movie but wonders what kind of lense we’re suppose to be viewing it through:
I keep comparing “Beauty and the Beast” to the animated version, which raises a question: Is that what we’re supposed to be doing? Or should the film simply stand on its own? The movie wants to have it both ways, but then, that’s the contradictory metaphysic of reboot culture: We’re drawn in to see the old thing…but we want it to be new. The live-action “Beauty and the Beast” is different enough, and certainly, if you’ve never experienced the cartoon, it’s strong enough to stand on its own. (Josh Gad, incidentally, plays Gaston’s worshipful stooge Le Fou as maximally silly and fawning, but I must have missed the memo where that spells “gay.”) Yet it’s not really that simple, is it? The larger fantasy promoted by a movie like this one is that we’ll somehow see an animated feature “come to life.” And that may be a dream of re-branding — shared by studio and audience alike — that carries an element of creative folly. Animation, at its greatest, is already a glorious imitation of life. It’s not clear that audiences need an imitation of the imitation.
The Playlist is one of the most critical of the film. They found themselves disappointed by the special effects and missing the “magic” of the animated version:
While “Beauty And The Beast,” has a few moments when the romance begins to sparkle (again, thank you Emma Watson), Condon’s movie is essentially missing the effervescences of the original and those special ingredients: charisma, and the captivating qualities of sprinkling magic and fairytales. While there’s little that could save the picture, period, its visual effects are the movie’s Achilles heel. Visual effects have become astonishing these days; films “The Jungle Book,” “Life Of Pi,” and “Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes” have finally gotten over the hump of making animals look photo-realistic. But even with Industrial Light And Magic’s handy work, the ‘Beast’ VFX inspires little awe. Worst of all, Dan Steven’s Beast monster is never as convincing and never connects emotionally. Overall, the CGI isn’t as piss poor as what Condon rendered in the ridiculous-to-look-at “Twilight” films, but some of the action scenes are close and the results, overall, are subpar by today’s standards—strange for a Disney film that looks like it cost a fortune otherwise.
Are these ‘Beauty and the Beast’ reviews swaying you one way or the other?
Beauty and the Beast opens in theaters Friday, March 17. The soundtrack will be released one week earlier on March 10 (and we CAN’T WAIT for that).
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