Gorgeously produced, but without the magic, joy, charm, soul or emotional power

Rating: 5/10 (18 March 2017)

1991's 'Beauty and the Beast' is not just my favourite animated film, speaking as a huge animation fan and who loves most of Disney's films, but also one of my favourite films.
Expectations were very much mixed going to see this live-action retelling, having thoroughly enjoyed 2015's 'Cinderella' and 2016's 'The Jungle Book' (which were visually gorgeous and combined old and new while retaining the spirits of their animated counterparts). Also being familiar with Bill Condon's previous work, and finding him a generally promising director and writer. 'Gods and Monsters' is amazing and one of my favourites, 'Kinsey' was interesting and 'Dreamgirls' was elevated by the soundtrack and the cast was quite decent, before he dropped the ball with the last two 'Twilight' films which were not good films at all through no real fault of Condon but with a good deal of everything else.
At the same time, some of the casting was dubious (Emma Watson is not as bad an actress as many say but to me she just wasn't my idea of Belle, though the likes of Ian McKellen and Emma Thompson promised a lot) and considering that the 1991 film is such a masterpiece in every area (to me the animated 'Cinderella' and 'The Jungle Book' are great films but nothing compared to 'Beauty and the Beast') comparisons were always going to be inevitable. Not comparing was always going to be hard when it was such a staple of my, and many others', childhood. Really questioned the point of it too. Seeing it for myself with no prejudice, and writing this review reading as few reviews as possible, this retelling is not a patch on the 1991 film, it doesn't disgrace it but what worked so well before is missing. On its own terms, it's also very problematic. Just for the record, in no way is it awful, but my feelings were exactly the same as initial expectations, mixed.
Starting with the great things, most of 'Beauty and the Beast' (2017) looks amazing. The set design is colourful and incredibly lavish, with equally gorgeous costumes (especially Belle's yellow ball gown which is even nicer than the dress Watson wore in 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire') and everything is exquisitely photographed. The original songs, some of Disney's finest ever, from the 1991 film are maintained, and as masterful as ever, while the instrumental score is rousing, layered and beautiful.
Of the renditions of the songs, the best one is the Busby Berkeley-inspired jaw-dropping extravaganza "Be Our Guest". "Gaston" is also enormous fun, and hurrah for one of the best song lyrics ever being kept "I use antlers in all my decorating" and while Thompson's performance of "Beauty and the Beast" is nothing compared to the iconic one of Angela Lansbury in one of the greatest scenes in all animation it is still poignant.
The supporting cast do fare better than the leads, with Luke Evans being the standout, performing Gaston with gusto and menace. Josh Gad is great fun as LeFou, and regarding the controversy for me it has been blown out of proportion and nowhere near as explicit as seemingly implied, it's actually pretty subtle and will go over the heads of younger audiences. Ewan McGregor is clearly enjoying himself as Lumiere, despite sporting a dodgy accent (though a French accent is not easy), while McKellen is a wonderfully stuffy Cogsworth, Stanley Tucci is a great addition and Thompson a sincere Mrs Potts. Chip is very cute too, and Lumiere and Plumette's chemistry is sweet and amusing without being creepy.
However, am of the opinion that Watson and Dan Stevens are miscast. Watson is far too earnest for Belle and a lot of her line delivery is both forced and phoned in. Stevens often looks stiff and uncomfortable as Beast, being very cheaply made up, and his eyes look dead. Beast was a fascinating character before but has been stripped of his complexity and soul. The chemistry between them, something that would have made or broken the film, isn't there. Audra MacDonald overdoes it in the role of the wardrobe and Kevin Kline tries his best but his Maurice is largely wasted.
Special effects and such are a mixed bag. Some of it fares well but some of it looks pretty dreadful, especially Chip, the wolves and Beast. One admires the fact that 'Beauty and the Beast' tries to remain faithful to the animated film, but one can't help feeling that it was too faithful and that the spirit generally was lost in translation. There is not much new, though trying with additional songs that are so lacking compared to the original songs ("Evermore" is forgettable and completely lacks impact) and cramming in numerous back-stories that mostly bloats the film and like a rich pudding being over-egged. Belle and Maurice's subplot feels like padding and eats up too much time.
Not all the original song renditions work, with "Belle" lacking joy and being pedestrian in staging, "Something There" being similarly indifferent and underpowered in singing. The climax, so powerful before with a tense final fight and Beast's death scene and transformation even now reducing me to floods of tears every time, this time round feels like a lukewarm anti-climax. The beautifully crafted script before is both dull and overdone here, the story lacks magic, joy, charm, soul and emotional power that only appears sporadically and the pacing suffers from the film trying to do too much.
In summary, 'Beauty and the Beast' (2017) looks gorgeous with a strong supporting cast and a few song renditions that come off well but suffers from being over-stuffed, miscast leads and feeling very bland in spirit. 5/10 Bethany Cox