One Year Later: Could She Learn to Love the Live-Action Beast?

It’s been about a year since the live-action Beauty and the Beast premiered in theatres. I saw it a few weeks after it opened with my daughter for my birthday. Despite the awesome company and the happy occasion, I wasn’t quite sure if I liked it. The film went on to gross over $1 billion dollars worldwide, so I realize I was in the minority. Would a second viewing of the film a year later improve my opinion? Could I learn to love the live-action Beast?

Before I get into my thoughts about the second viewing I feel like I should disclose by bias. I love the original Beauty and the Beast. Perhaps a little too much. I remember seeing it in the theater for the first time and feeling completely enthralled by the opening scene and well-crafted narrative. That was before the movie title even appeared on the screen. Then Belle started singing her way through the village and I was hooked. “I want adventure in the great wide somewhere,” is a commonly sung phrase in my household. So when Disney announced a live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast was underway, I was nervous. Why mess with a classic?

Then the live-action version of Cinderella opened in the spring of 2015 and The Jungle Book and Pete’s Dragon followed in 2016. This calmed my nerves a bit because I enjoyed all three of these remakes way more than I thought I would. Yet all of these films were older classics. Cinderella came the closest, but none of them held the same sentimental attachment for me as Beauty and the Beast.

Back to my second viewing of the film today. It seemed like a good day for it since we just passed the film’s one year anniversary. It was also snowing outside on the first full day of Spring (kind of like the unexpected snow in June in the film!) so my plans for the day were already wrecked. I curled up on the couch, pulled up the live-action Beauty and the Beast on Netflix and hit play.

Here’s my updated review, with the best saved for last like a typical Disney film ending.

Dislikes

(1) Fifi is a bird.

Fifi is a maid in Beast’s castle, the love interest of Lumiere and a fairly minor character in the animated version. So I’m okay with her expanded role in the live-action film, but why did she turn into a bird? I suppose it’s so she can accomplish certain tasks in particular scenes (like flying during Be Our Guest) or it’s just because she’s a featherduster and birds have feathers. I don’t know, but it’s odd. It bothered me the first time I saw the film and even more the second. All of the other castle employees that fell under the spell became inanimate objects with faces. Why didn’t she? Minor issue but irksome to me. (Are you scared to learn the rest of my list?)

(2) Emma Thompson’s accent.

So I love Emma Thompson. She cracks me up as the voice of Merida’s mother in Brave and makes me sob (with tears of happiness) in her version of Sense and Sensibility. She’s crazy talented and I’m typically a fan of everything she touches. Except this film! Her accent for Mrs. Potts, particularly when she’s singing, sounds forced to me, almost like she’s trying to imitate Angela Lansbury from the original. I think a different accent, which she is totally capable of achieving, would have been more fun. Disappointing, but again minor. I’m still a fan.

(3) Tying Maurice to a tree to be killed by wolves.

Yeah so this one’s a little bigger issue. In the remake, Gaston decides to tie Belle’s father (Maurice, wonderfully portrayed by Kevin Kline in the film) to a tree because Maurice refuses to support Gaston’s plans to marry Belle. In the best scenarios Maurice would die from hunger or exposure. Worst case he would be eaten by wolves. It felt over the top harsh to me, even in a film that includes a song called Kill the Beast.

Fortunately, Maurice escapes this trap (with the help of the enchantress) and ends up facing the original threat from the animated version, which is a trip to an asylum. That seems like a scary enough fate without having to add the tree bit, don’t you think? As a side note, have you ever noticed how many Disney films include wolves?

(4) Be Our Guest is a visual explosion.

Ugh. I was excited to see how the new film would handle this famous scene where Belle sits down for dinner in the castle and the enchanted staff performs Be Our Guest. It’s one of the most popular scenes from the original. Maybe that’s why they went so big on this one? There was just so much going on in this particular montage (exploding fish heads! champagne glass disco ball! hundreds of Fifi birds swimming Esther-Williams-style in a punch bowl!) it felt out of place with the rest of the film. Ewan McGregor’s singing was okay, but the special effects almost made me dizzy. I missed the charm of the original.

Stuff that got better with a second viewing

Now that you think I’m not the true Disney fan you thought I was, let me get to the better stuff.

(1) Emma Watson’s singing

Emma Watson is beautiful and talented but her singing voice just didn’t communicate Belle to me the first time I watched the film. I guess I was expecting the strong, clear voice of Paige O’Hara from the original, or something closer to what I’ve heard in the Broadway show in New York or even the stage show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. This time, however, her singing voice didn’t bother me nearly as much. It’s different, yes, but in this second viewing I appreciated the understated quality of it more. It felt more intentional this time to me and appropriate for the Belle character portrayed in this version.

(2) The extra scenes that fill information gaps from the animated version

The first time I watched the new Beauty and the Beast I was so nervous they were going to totally change the story line that I couldn’t really relax and enjoy the film. I’m not proud of it. I battled the same feelings when I watched Star Wars VII for the first time.

In the second viewing I felt like I could better absorb the story and appreciate the extra plot detail that the live-action film provides. Stuff like explaining how the townspeople didn’t know about the Beast’s castle because their memories were erased as part of the spell. Or that Maurice was thrown into the Beast’s prison for stealing a rose, rather than just wandering onto his property. The biggest addition, that I viewed as a positive, was filling in the back story for Belle’s mother and the Beast’s parents. All of these extra scenes seemed to complement the original storyline, rather than taking it into a drastically different direction.

The best parts of the film

(1) Dan Stevens sings Evermore

The new film features a few songs that were not part of the original animated version. The best example in my opinion is Evermore, sung by Dan Stevens as the Beast. He sings the song after he frees Belle from the castle so she can go save her father. It felt like an appropriate place to expand the storyline and Dan Stevens sings it beautifully. His booming speaking voice is perfect throughout the film too. I kind of wish we could see more of him without the CGI and heavy make-up, but that’s a personal preference.

(2) Cinematography

Similar to the Cinderella live-action remake, Beauty and the Beast is a beautiful film. There’s so much rich detail in the village, Belle’s home and the Beast’s gorgeous castle. There’s almost a glowing effect to the film in certain parts, such as the ball room scene and the scene that follows where Belle’s yellow gown shines against the snowy background. I enjoyed this aspect of the film as much today, if not more than the first time I viewed it, despite the smaller screen size. The choreography of the musical scenes of Belle, Gaston and Kill the Beast remind me of stage plays and are also fun to watch.

(3) Luke Evans as Gaston

Luke Evans was a surprising choice as Gaston for me, because he didn’t seem to have the exaggerated body type the part required. It didn’t matter. His acting and singing totally made up for the difference in his appearance from the original film. In fact, he’s probably my favorite part. From his performance of his theme song in the pub to his comical self-absorption (“you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen”… he says to himself in the mirror), he added more depth to Gaston, but kept the funny aspects too. And yes, he’s still a villain in the end.

So what’s my conclusion? Did I learn to love the live-action Beast? Well, not entirely. The second viewing definitely improved my opinion of the film, but it still wasn’t enough to dethrone the original for me. In fact I may need to rewatch the older version today. You know, for research purposes. The live-action version boasts beautiful imagery, well-developed characters and a more robust plot than the original. It’s a good film and entertaining to watch even when you aren’t trapped at home on a snow day.

Yet it still couldn’t top the sentimentality of the animated version for me. I have no doubt those with less of an attachment to the original will feeI differently.

So what do you think? On the mark or off my rocker? Let me know in the comments below!

Add a little (enchanted French) magic to your world!