It actually impressed me

Rating: 7/10 (17 March 2017)

I'll start by saying this. "Beauty and the Beast" is one of my favorite Disney movies ever. Probably only second to Mulan. Of course, I always enjoy the singing, but what I enjoyed most were the characters, especially Cogsworth, Lumiere, and Mrs. Potts. I loved the dynamic between them and the Beast. And concerning the Beast, I was always impressed with Robbie Benson's ability to go from gruff and feral to sweet and gentle.
When I went to see this movie, I was cautiously optimistic; I didn't want one of my favorite childhood movies to be ruined. It was actually better than I was expecting it to be. It will never be the 1991 movie, but I still managed to get a lot out of the film.
My biggest qualm with this movie was Emma Watson. I love her to death, but I can't say that I enjoyed her singing too much. I was perfectly happy with the acting, but I think it would've been better to dub the singing parts with an actual singer or to have just cast a better singer. The quality of her singing versus that of others was starkly apparent. Other than that, I loved seeing her again.
The movie's also missing that back-and-forth banter between Lumiere and Cogsworth. There's some of it in there, but it's not nearly as funny as it was in the animated movie.
Now for the good stuff. I'm so glad that they brought Alan Menken back because he did it again! Even 20 years later, he manages to make such terrific songs. It's amazing! I'm pretty fond of the old songs, but the new ones are simply to good to ignore.
A lot of the stuff from the 1991 movie is in this one. There are also some new scenes that sort of give you a little more insight into certain characters. Lefou is certainly more respectable here than he is in the animated movie and seems much less deserving of his name.
I thought the CGI was pretty good with maybe the possible exception of the Beast. He didn't look horrible, but I wish he'd looked different. Certain features of his looked odd at times. Like his legs. They looked a little too big to me. But the CGI in "Be Our Guest"? That was amazing! A very entertaining show!
I'm glad that I saw this. I was having doubts, even while sitting in the movie theater, but I was very happy with what I'd seen when I left.