People do take comfort in the familiar

Rating: 5/10 (13 April 2017)

Maybe if this was released in 1991 it would have been a smash hit. Oh wait, it was.
A selfish prince is cursed into the form of a beast, and his castle's servants turned into animate objects, but when a girl enters the castle looking for her lost father, there is hope to lift the curse.
Disney's insistence to churn out these live-action remakes of their most popular animated features is proving extremely divisive, but they really do bring in the money.
People do take comfort in the familiar
I feel bad for children who might experience this interpretation of the story first, and it gives evidence of exactly what's wrong with remaking things. Especially when the original is a priceless gem with little to no flaws. Disney, and director Bill Condon, clearly knew "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Indeed, Condon has literally remade Beauty and the Beast, only not as well. Congratulations? 2017's film benefits, like a leech, on the memories of the original movie. To like this movie is to reaffirm love for the original: Oh, this song! I love this song. I refuse to recognise they have replaced a talented Broadway singer for an auto-tuned Emma Watson. Oh, I love this opening song in the village. Oh, because it is shot-for-shot exactly the same as the original?
Sure, okay, die hard fans will lap this up. You can let it wash over you and make you all nostalgic for a faultless Academy Award winning Disney film that still exists. There are improvements. Such as Kevin Kline as Belle's father Maurice, Josh Gad (as a decidedly subtle homosexual LeFou, calm down people) and the introduction of the film are good choices. But these are only good because they buck the film's dogged insistence on following the original's personality exactly. The ending too is surprisingly darker (yet without changing anything). But for everything good, there's plenty wrong. Primarily is one new addition to the plot. The Enchantress that cursed the prince, asides from giving him the magic mirror to show him the outside world to torment him also gives him a magic book. A book that allows the one holding the book to teleport anywhere in the world. This becomes a expositionary device, which I was okay with. But later when Belle is forced to flee the castle to rescue her father (as the original plot demands) in such as hurry as to not change from her ballroom dress, she rides off on her horse. Desperate and maybe too late!  You have a book that can literally take you there instantaneously.
There are many other issues, but none as apparent and seemingly narrow-minded as that. It usually boils down to pacing and screenplay structure, which simply aren't as tight as the original, dragging scenes out with padding. A couple of extra songs that reek of "we haven't had a song in a while". Or surreal moments with Belle or Beast's internalisations about one another (in the original) now being sung aloud when in blatant earshot of each other? What?
No, the sets aren't bad and are lavishly detailed, the servants designs are intricate and creative, the idea that the castle is crumpling as the rose wilts is great. But everything feels so passionless and empty, following the stage directions of an existing classic to the letter. A film that takes a cherished and award worthy experience and thinks it can do better, without doing anything new with it and simply running with people's nostalgia.