Beauty And The Beast

This review may contain spoilers!

This film paid more attention to flashy musical numbers than story and substance. I would give Beauty And The Beast a 6/10.

This film is really good at capturing some very magical moments throughout the feature, be that the ice lake/snowball fight scene, the villagers charging to kill Beast, the final confrontation between the castle servants and the village folk and even Beast singing his love for Belle as she returns to her father. In fact probably the best part of the feature was when the film focused upon Beast, he was clearly kind and soft-hearted but the death of his mother and resulting upbringing from his father meant that his path to redemption was a very personal journey. The film itself handles comedy very well for the most part, small witticisms land and often it's the very exaggerated characters like Gaston, LeFou and Cogsworth that steal the show. The special effects look great; the CGI household objects have a great style to them, though I would say that it's the wolves and the Beast himself who really stand out. The score for the film has a rich symphonic feel, and I would say some of the musical numbers are very good.

Dan Stevens, who played Beast, made for quite an interesting leading role; he really brought forth the Beast's wild and aggressive initial qualities but he develops a more gentler side as you come to see his affection and empathy later on. Josh Gad, who played LeFou, brings a lot of the much needed comedic relief throughout the feature; I like that he had some moral fiber and was consistently wrestling with his loyalty to Gaston versus doing the right thing. Ewan McGregor, who played Lumiere, really is the emboldened life-of-the-party candelabra the film demanded; I was very sold on his charm and the impact he had in the scenes he was in. Ian McKellen, who played Cogsworth, was gruff and had the short temperament of the famous enchanted clock; McKellen's tense yet endearing chemistry that he developed with McGregor worked very well. Nathan Mack, who played Chip, has the innocent portrayal of the youngest enchanted household staff down perfectly; it's very tough to envision anyone else but Mack to bring forth the voice and temperament of the character.

However the best performance came from Luke Evans, who played Gaston. This character has always been one of my favourite Disney antagonists and Evans brings the role to life in this film. He really captures the ignorance of the role very well but also the stubbornness, the way he seeks Belle's hand in marriage goes from persistence to pig-headed in no time. Furthermore we get all the macho bravado you'd expect from Gaston, whether that's shown from reminiscing about the war with LeFou or charging into battle against the Beast. A very loud-mouthed boisterous and even comedic role who is made villainous when he realises that if he cannot have what he wants then he will destroy Belle's life and all she holds precious. It is very true that in Luke Evans hands there is no one quite like Gaston.

So does this film really capture the heart behind the Beauty and the Beast story? Well as I've said earlier it gets some of the more notable parts of the film but completely drops the ball on others. It doesn't help that the film is very content with doing sudeen and abrupt changes in the direction of the plot. Some good examples of this is when Belle suddenly decides to up and leave to find her father after we've only registered he's been captured, the Beast shouting and raging at Belle but then suddenly risking his life for her, the entire romantic relationship between Belle and Beast happens quite suddenly and Gaston leaving Maurice to die comes quite quickly too. At other times the film invests in moments where there isn't really a great deal of emotional payoff, Belle is freed from her cell before you can even acknowledge how great a sacrifice she has made, the big dance between Belle and Beast isn't really built up to, Belle's curiosity about her mother is a subplot that grows rather dull and even the curse being removed at the end doesn't have much impact due to the Enchantress having an onscreen presence. The distance between moments that actually matter in the feature is so great that it is very easy to grow bored, in fact the slow pacing is a glaring issue of this musical film. The cinematography looks very staged throughout, often the camera is set up in a way that the environment feels more like a set than a place or the lighting within a scene looks painstakingly obvious. While I loved a lot of the musical features there were several that really didn't have much need to be there and took up valuable screen time, also Emma Thompson singing 'Tale As Old As Time' is possibly one of the most ghastly things I've had to endure on a film soundtrack so far this year.

Emma Watson, who played Belle, seemed as if she would be the perfect actress for this part considering some of her past film roles but the reality was quite disappointing; I really struggled with Watson's dry tone and her facial expressions over the course of the film seemed to be in constant conflict with the lines she was saying/singing. Kevin Kline, who played Maurice, should probably learn the difference between playing a dottery old man and a simple one; there were many instances throughout the feature where it felt like Kline just couldn't even be bothered to act consistently in regards to his character. Emma Thompson, who played Mrs Potts, needs to take a workshop on how to perform accents immediately; Thompson's harsh tone and poor voicework resulted in a butchery of one of the film's most iconic musical numbers. Audra McDonald, who played Madame Garderobe, was just far too over the top to be taken seriously; her voice was painful to listen to and her subplot about missing her husband the most forgettable of the feature. Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who played Plumette, is quite a stereotypical love interest for McGregor's character; the way Mbatha-Raw settled for a gushing swooning maiden left a lot to be desired.