fine live-action take of Disney animated classic

Rating: 7/10 (4 July 2017)

A selfish prince (Dan Stevens) lords over the local villagers. One rainy night, an old woman seeking shelter is sent away. She turns out to be an Enchantress. She curses the prince and his servants. He's turned into a Beast to be forgotten by the world. Belle (Emma Watson) is tired of the provincial life and the tiresome pursuing self-obsessed Gaston (Luke Evans). LeFou (Josh Gad) is his adoring man-servant. Belle asks for a rose from her traveling father. He takes a rose from the castle and is imprisoned by the Beast. Belle volunteers to take her father's place as the Beast's prisoner.
Emma Watson is a good actress. Her singing is average but that has its charms. Gaston is a great villain. The CGI looks good for the most part but I am uncertain about the Beast. Belle is a modern empowered character which does strike me as a little odd. It would help to have more scenes like the villager berating Belle for teaching the little girl to read. The more backwards the villagers, the better it is for Belle to rebel against. Then there is the basic prisoner love story at the core of this fairy tale. It remains problematic to me. There are ways to ameliorate this but the movie sticks to the story. This is good but the Disney animation remains the better.