A Wonderful World of Music and Love

Rating: 10/10 (25 March 2017)

When Disney first announced their slew of live-action remakes after the financial success that was Maleficent, I had great doubts about them. Maleficent was, to a point, fun, but the amount of films they planned to make in such a short time sounded like they were not going to do the originals justice. I found myself proved wrong with Cinderella. Alice in the Looking Glass was a lost cause. (Pete's Dragon, while not a remake of an animated classic, was utterly beautiful). The Jungle Book was nice, but highly overrated in my opinion.
Then there was this. This ... THIS ... is true Disney at its finest. A classical romantic musical adventure extravaganza filled to the brim with a strong story, upraising laughter, marvellous tension and pulled-straight-from-your-heart tears of both sadness and joy. Bill Condon's direction is a complete triumph and, if I may, the best thing he's ever made thus far. Alan Menken's return as composer is spectacular, restoring lyrics that were deleted from the original film and adding in three new and very moving song numbers (Evermore, the Beast's solo, is a personal favourite). Every cast member was masterfully chosen for their roles in both professions of acting and singing; Emma Watson defies all expectations, Dan Stevens puts on a magnificent and awesome Beast, Luke Evans perfectly conveys the villain's immoral tendencies in the form of a realistic psychopath, Kevin Kline and Ian McKellen are as funny as ever, and Ewan McGregor and Emma Thompson pull of their respective roles (and singing) of Lumiere and Mrs. Potts with performances that would make Jerry Orbach and Angela Lansbury proud.
And the music... oh, the music. All the well-remembered and beloved songs of the 1991 animated masterpiece are back, fully realised in all of their resplendent glory and never losing any of their charm.
If it's classic Disney you love, then this is your film.