Directed by:
Bill CondonCinematography:
Tobias A. SchliesslerComposer:
Alan MenkenCast:
Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Josh Gad, Emma Thompson, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Kline, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Ian McKellen, Stanley Tucci, Audra McDonald (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
"Beauty and the Beast" is the fantastic journey of Belle, a bright, beautiful and independent young woman who is taken prisoner by a beast in his castle. Despite her fears, she befriends the castle's enchanted staff and learns to look beyond the Beast's hideous exterior and realize the kind heart and soul of the true Prince within. (Walt Disney US)
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Reviews (12)
I hadn't seen the original 1991 Disney film, so I approached the new version of Beauty and the Beast as a blank slate, but also full of anticipation, as similar films from recent years like Cinderella and Maleficent have intrigued and enchanted me immensely. After watching it, I can safely and wholeheartedly say that they have succeeded in creating a supremely magical film full of beautiful scenes, lovely songs and diverse characters. I also appreciate the inclusion of racial and even sexual minorities. A likeable tale playing with all colours and sounding all notes that definitely won't get lost in the average.
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I like fairy tales. But I don't think this was a fairy tale. From the beginning, I had questions about the plot and what was going on, rather than enjoying the movie. Unfortunately, the movie didn't grab me at all, the songs left me unimpressed (and I like musicals possibly even more than fairy tales), and they were at times long-winded, which the rest of the movie was, too. It didn't flow at all, I had to stop it halfway through to browse the internet just to take a break from it. The movie just didn't work at all. How did it even deal with time? I watched it with my guy and he was even more annoyed than I was. Nothing but comments about this and that, even though he's a pretty undemanding viewer. *SPOILER* For example, Gaston's fall... that one was much ado about nothing, they could easily have had him trip and it would have had the same effect. Pretty unsuccessful for me. A weaker 2 stars.
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The work done in the fairy tale and musical aspects is absolutely outstanding, while the costumes, set design, choreography, and Emma Watson's eyes are captivating, and the music enchants the heart more and more. This film fulfilled everything that was promised during the long wait.
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It will probably be a hit and little girls will like it, but I have a feeling that the world would function without any problems without the live-action version of Beauty and the Beast. Emma Watson is great, the special effects are opulent, and the production design is fantastic, but due to its excessive running time, the film starts to lose its breath in the middle and doesn't have much to tell. Yes, there are the familiar songs, but half of them are only there because they were in the animated version. And the cute talking furniture stops being entertaining after a few minutes, and when the candelabras, teapots, and clocks take up the entire space in front of the camera, it becomes quickly tiresome. A huge digital mess. But it is still a proper romantic fairytale that actually offers exactly what you expect from it. Cinderella has more likeable characters, The Jungle Book is funnier and more thrilling, but I probably never expected more from a live-action Beauty and the Beast than what we got in the cinema. So in the end, it's probably okay. And Luke Evans is amazing.
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Beauty and the Beast is the kind of musical in which the songs do not enhance the already very simple story, but rather slow it down. And there are loads of them. Visually, however, it is a really beautiful movie, with a retro charm in the style of the original The Wizard of Oz, and with the prettiest princess, Emma Watson, who looks like she was born for this role. A small spoiler: what I will remember the most from this film is the moment of shock when Ewan McGregor, Ian McKellen and Emma Thompson appeared on screen simultaneously, and I realized that instead of their voices, I had been listening to song dubbed in Czech for two hours. It is hard to refuse a Prague's IMAX ceremony premiere invitation, but that was really the last time I will ever go to see a dubbed film. Nevertheless, the movie has excellent 3D animation (that snow!) and its format is also perfectly suited to IMAX.
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