Beauty and the Beast (2017). (Destiny)

by Ragashingo , Official DBO Cryptarch, Wednesday, October 25, 2017, 08:03 (2590 days ago) @ Ragashingo
edited by Ragashingo, Wednesday, October 25, 2017, 08:26

In a world where uninspired, money-grab remakes come at us left and right, Beauty and the Beast was an example of a remake done right. They brought the story into live action while preserving and, in some cases, greatly enhancing the things that made the previous film a classic.

Some of the things I loved about this new version:

- They changed Belle from... a strange pretty girl who simply read too much... to a smart, resourceful inventor. If the animated version of Belle was a strong woman character, the new version adds more to that.

- Belle's father was changed from an embarrassing crackpot inventor to a much less goofy loving father who was still saddened by the death of his wife. The old version of Maurice was far too silly of a character to really be sympathetic and I'm glad they changed him.

- They found someone who could fill the shoes of animated Gaston. One of my biggest worries was that trying to reproduce Gaston's over the topness would fail in live action, but it didn't. This version of Gaston also gets some better story moments where we get to see a bit more of how manipulative he is and how he uses his reputation to try and get what he wants. Plus, his version of Kill The Beast is at least as good as the original.

- LeFou got some nice extra story bits as well. Instead of just being a complete idiot yes man, live action LeFou is a smarter character who really begins to see the wrongness of his and Gaston's actions and though he get pulled along into doing bad things he eventually snaps out of it and changes sides. I love his little solo in the new version of Kill The Beast where he sings: "There's a beast running wild, there's no question. But I fear the wrong monster's released."

It's also neat to watch how LeFou was enabling some of Gaston's popularity by basically paying off the towns people to get along and play along with Gaston. In the "Gaston" section of the movie, watch how LeFou multiple times places down coins so that Gaston's friends will continue to engage with him. Sure, Gaston is a war hero and a fairly popular person about town, but some of that is also fueled by the money being handed out to keep him popular!

- I like the small, mostly unstated subplot of Agatha (the enchantress) that is present in this version. She punished the prince and the town for their mean spirited decadence but then instead of just vanishing completely, she stayed with the town and watched over its people for the years that her curse was over all of them. Then, she saves Maurice and later saves the Beast after he finally redeems himself. It's neat to look for Agatha in the various shots, like at the beginning of Kill The Beast where she looks concerned and kinda moves off.

- I love the new version of Be Our Guest. The vocals and music are as good or better than they every were, but more than that, the original animated version very clearly didn't have the budget needed to match the stunning, expansive lyrics. There were far too many blank backgrounds and doubled up animation (like where the plates dance onto the screen in three sets of duplicated rows) and just a lack of grandeur while the music and vocals knocked it out of the park. One of my biggest anticipations for this live action version was seeing what the song should have really looked like with a proper budget. It is as grand and colorful and over the top as I think it always should have been.

- I really enjoyed the new songs. "How Does A Moment Last Forever" and its Paris version were, to me, good small additions to the story. "Day's In The Sun" didn't grab me at first, or maybe I was just missing "Human Again" but it has grown on me and I like the perspectives each of the characters share.

I loved "Evermore". Finally, the Beast got a real song to sing, he sang it really well, and the visuals on screen are excellent with the way the Beast keeps climbing higher to catch a glimpse of Belle as she leaves and the way each shot is framed so you get just a moment's look at her in her bright yellow dress before she exits the camera's view again.

Fortunately, the rest of the world disagrees with DBO. Beauty and the Beast (2017) is the top grossing movie of the year and only Star Wars is likely to top it. And for good reason. At the end, the entire theater around me erupted into a standing ovation each time I went to see this movie. And I completely agree with that. In an age where we get endless sequels and heartless reboots, it was nice to see a new version of a classic get the attention it deserved, a lot of which came from its original creators.

From here Disney seems to be planning to live action things like Aladdin and Mulan neither of which I think will go anywhere near as well. Aladdin because replacing THE Genie feels impossible, and Mulan because the last rumor I saw was that it was not going to have the songs. Losing "Honor To Us All" "Reflection" "I'll Make A Man Out Of You" "and "A Girl Worth Fighting For" will be a travesty!

And if you want a really awful version of Beauty and the Beast, go watch La Belle et la Bete by Jean Cocteau. It's the movie the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast was based on and it is completely awful... even for 1946! I got it for my mom for her birthday as a joke and I think she is now haunted by just how bad it was. :p