Tale as old as time - and still you can screw it up.

Rating: 3/10 (20 May 2017)

First I'll explain the 4/10 stars; an attempt was made with this movie. I could see the effort, but even if you make a cake and it looks pretty it doesn't matter if it doesn't taste like anything.
So yeah, I'm one of those who got disappointed with this remake. I had read the reviews and seen the trailers, so I somewhat knew what I was stepping in to when I went to see this.
I'm very much with the audience that has already stated the obvious; Emma Watson is lovely lady, but she's no Belle. I get that the writers wanted her to have some spunk in her rather than just be a bland miss goody-two-shoes, but Watson can't play it through. Just in one or two scenes she looks like she's about to grasp her role, other times she looks like she's just reading her lines out loud to her grandma. But it's not all her fault, the pointing finger goes almost entirely on casting and the director. I mean - what's with the awkward scenes? When the Beast is fighting off Gaston, the camera suddenly shows Emma gasping very theatrically. Like someone just shouts at her "Okay Emma, now gasp like you're in a school play and you have to make it show all the way to the back row" - which she does, and it just looks silly.
I mean.. There's so much wrong in a movie that should've been the best thing come out from Disney in ages. from start to finish this movie was pain to watch. All the awkward ball scenes in the beginning and end, well, at least the movie got to finish at the same dull feeling as it started.
There were good things, too. Like the design of the castle. Dan Stevens singing his piece, which was nicely put together even though it wasn't a part of the original animation. The movie showed the Beasts' pain far better than animated version. We get to see the more dark side of Gaston's personality.
I will never watch this again, this I will assure you. I'm sorry, Sir Ian McKellen, but even you couldn't save this movie - as magnificent as you are.