Two Words: Bad Pacing

Rating: 4/10 (27 July 2017)

When I saw the first trailer for this film, I was THRILLED. The 1991 Beauty and the Beast is my favorite animated Disney film and I like it even more now than I did when I was a child. However, Disney is not infallible like everyone thinks they are. I watched the new adaptation for the first time last night, and I was utterly disappointed.
The new film lacked the drama, passion, and magic that the first film presented. Though the visuals of the film were gorgeous, it was over-acted, and contained changes that just didn't make much sense for the story. Its largest flaw, however, was its pacing.
The 1991 film does a marvelous job taking its time to create feelings of excitement, mystery, and urgency in a scene. For example, the first time the Beast is revealed there is a dark and mysterious weight present. This mood is built slowly and carefully until the full reveal of the Beast when Belle asks him to step into the light, where the audience can share the shock that belle experiences.
In the new version, this scene is rushed to the point that the drama and weight are completely lost. Beast is revealed in an awkward daytime scene that feels managed, unnatural, unimportant, and unremarkable. Another scene that shares this issue (though most of them do) is where Belle ventures into the forbidden West Wing. In the 1991 version, she slowly and cautiously makes her way there, allowing the audience to feel the tension. We are shown tattered paintings and crumbled statues, then finally the wilting rose. What a powerful scene! In the new version, however, Belle literally runs up the stairs, finds the rose, is yelled at by Beast and exits again in what seemed like less than 30 seconds. The whole movie feels rushed in this way, like the director had to hurry through the old material so he could add a bunch of new material to the film and still keep the run time down for mainstream audiences. This equation will ALWAYS create a sub-par film.
On a positive note, however, the song "Be Our Guest" was brilliantly portrayed, and Gaston was a surprisingly entertaining character to watch.
Overall, however, I did not enjoy this movie. This story needed a film that took its time to tell the story right. Sadly, it just didn't happen this time.