Don't believe the haters - will go on to become one of the greats

Rating: 10/10 (25 March 2017)

Whatever you do, under no circumstances, believe the haters. I have read a few reviews so far and most are, sad to say, woefully and shamefully inadequate.
As most would know this is a remake of the 1991 Aminated classic. Winner of Academy Awards and loved by generations, the animated musical casts a long shadow. Any movie following in its footsteps has a lot to live up to. Fortunately, the remake does this in spades.
Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bête in the original french) was a fairy tale published 1740 for the french court. Fairy tales were popular in the French salons at the time. This version - a political thriller of sorts - was later republished in 1756 by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont for children in the form that is known today. This fairy tale, of the daughter of a merchant who is forced to move to the country after her father loses their fortune, was not the version told in the 1991 animated movie.
To be clear, Disney did not re-invent BatB, but the story was streamlined with elements removed and added to make the transition to the silver screen. The inclusion of Gaston, who doesn't appear anywhere in either of the french versions, is an example of this streamlining. Another is the rose, a pivotal part of the fairy tale, was changed into a plot device.
The problem with any streamlining is that sometimes elements are left out that turn out to be needed to fill plot holes. A plot hole from 1991 - why was the beast "spoilt" and "cruel" before the curse? Who knows. Another one - Why are Maurice and Belle so different to the town folk? Don't know. Or try this one - why did the Beast lock Maurice up? Because ..... Yeah. It only took 26 years for a remake to come along, and more importantly, a remake which fills the plot holes. And not only fills them but fills them either with new story or even more importantly with elements from the original fairy tale!
Moreover, charges have been levelled against the movie of being a shameless knockoff of the 1991 movie. To this, I have but one word to say - MUSIC. To remake Beauty and the Beast without the songs that earned its place in the hearts of an entire generation would be no less than a crime. The story into which those songs fit, how much can it be changed without the songs becoming irrelevant, or worse yet, out of place? The answer - very little! This charge usually comes with the accusation that certain scenes had been all but duplicated. What those making such a charge fail to realise is that these scenes like the music have become iconographic and inalienable to the Disney story. To lose them would have created a gaping void in the finished product just as changing or removing the songs would have. A symptom of the success of the 1991 movie is that parts must be used in any remake if it is to feel finished to the many, many who have grown up with the original.
Other complaints from reviewers who have panned Beaty and the Beast 2017, unfortunately, get worse, more insignificant and more nit- picky, from there. Unfortunately again it is a symptom of the success of the original that there are so many ready to tear apart this remake by sifting through the minutia to find a flaw.
The remake of Beauty and the Beast took 26 years to come along and was well worth the wait. It is the must see movie of 2017 and many years to come.