Really fun and extremely charming!

Rating: 8/10 (17 March 2017)

Going into this movie, I had low expectations. I'd seen poor reviews, and I also kind of hate the idea of remaking animated films for no reason other than to make them live action, as if that's supposed to make them better some how. This movie pleasantly surprised me!
Beauty and the Beast is a fun, charming movie, that is a blast in many ways. The film very easy on the eyes! Every shot is colourful and beautifully crafted. The acting is also excellent. Dan Stevens is excellent. You can see him if you look closely at The Beast, but not so clearly that it pulls you out of the film. His performance is suitably over the top in anger, but also very charming. Emma Watson was fine, but to be honest, she was basically just playing Hermione, and I didn't get much of a character from her. She likes books, and she's feisty. That's basically all I got. For me, the one saving grace for her character, is you can see how much fun Emma Watson is having. I've heard interviews in which she's expressed how much she's always loved Belle as a character, and it shows.
The stand out for me was Lumieré, voiced by Ewan McGregor. He was hilarious, and over the top, and always fun! He lit up the screen (no pun intended) every time he showed up!
The only real gripes I have with the film are some questionable CGI with the Wolves and with a couple of The Beast's scenes, and some pacing issues. The film flows really well, to such an extent that in some scenes, the camera will dolly away from the character it's focusing on, and will pan across the countryside, and track to another, far away, with out cutting. This works really well, but a couple times, the film will just fade to black, and it's quite jarring. It happens like 3 or 4 times, but it's really noticeable, and took me out of the experience. Also, they added some stuff to the story that I don't want to spoil, but I don't think it worked on any level, story wise, or logically.
Overall, it's a fun movie! I would recommend it to any fan of the original, but those who didn't like the animated classic, or who hate musicals might be better off staying away!
84/100