Tale as old as time....yet still somewhat new

Rating: 9/10 (30 March 2020)

I was extremely skeptical about this movie. I actually thoght the people who saw it opening weekend were suckers. Why would I see a movie that I already own, just with a different cast? Why should I support this extremely blatant cashgrab? But after literally almost everyone I know raving about how amazing and marvelous it was, I finally decided "Well, I haven't really heard anything bad about it. I'll give it a chance.", and I'm glad I did. This was amazing! Everything from the sets, to the costumes, to the CGI, to the acting was marvelous. I dare say that in some ways it was even better than the original. I try to keep my reviews spoiler free, but unfortunately mild spoilers are needed in this review so I can give specific reasons why I thonk this is superior to the animated one, so if you don't want spoilers stop reading now.
Some complaints that most people had with the animated version were:
"Why does the witch curse the beast when he was a child and was only following stranger danger rules?"
"Why did all the servants get cursed too? They were innocent!"
"Why does everyone turn their nose up at Belle for reading of all things?"
Here's what happened. This version makes more sense and that is why I think this one is superior.
It begins with the Beast (as a human) as a young adult and he is at a ball with potential suitors one of whom will be his wife. Big age difference. The line in "Be Our Guest" changes from "For 10 years we have been rusting," to "For so long we have been rusting."
The servants were cursed because after the Beast's mom the queen died, his father became cruel and abusive, and the servants got cursed because they just stood by and watched. (Which doesn't make much sense either, but it's better than the "Because they just happened to be there" reason in the original)
Everyone is a jerk to Belle because they are illilterate, so it doesn't make sense for her to read.
The songs were awesome! I had no idea Emma Watson had such an amazing voice. Ewan McGregor still can't do accents, but his singing is still pretty good. Dan Stevens (The Beast) should be on Broadway, because he has some impressive singing chops. Luke Evans (Gaston) doesn't sound brutish enough, which is one aspect where the animated is slightly better, but they made up for that by making him a creepy stalker, so it balances out. Josh Gad....oh boy....well,....he does his typical schtick. I don't like it, but I know what I'm getting. He has one character. He's not good, but I knew what I was getting going in to it. As much as I hate to say it, I'm actually quite excited for the next Disney live action remakes. Are they unneccesary? Yes. Will they be good? Who knows, but if they do what they did here, I think they will be.
Grade: A- 9/10 4/5 stars