Was too close to the original, minus the magic.

Rating: 6/10 (23 September 2017)

To start off, I wanted to say I haven't seen the animated version in at least 5 years, so I have no bias toward the live action version. The first half of the film was uninspiring, to say at the least. There was obvious CGI everywhere, and the makeup and some of the costumes were overly stark and cartoon-ish. It's supposed to be an adaption (adaptions are used to tell the story in a new light), but from what my friends told me, it's basically the exact same movie as the original. One of the best parts about the movie was racial diversity, which is very important to me. This next problem with is casting choices. While I was elated to hear about Emma Watson was playing Belle, it kind of sucked to see she was auto-tuned. I don't know how well she sings if at all, but noticeable auto-tune is worse than hearing a bad singer, or even a replacement singer. If she had lip synced the songs, it would have given a better result. The second half was more put together. The visuals and script have improved around that time. The friendship between Belle and Beast was adorable, but I didn't see them showing romance until the very end before Beast transformed. It wasn't very clear that Belle crushed on him until she got in the carriage. The ending was interesting and a little beautiful, seeing the characters go through their own transformations, revealing their human forms.
Overall, the movie kind of rushed through and didn't give many details; like how the characters felt or what their motives were. The acting wasn't great, but it's a kids movie so I can get over it. A few parts were unclear. The main cast was decent. The only main problem is with the art department. I hate to put down anyone's work, but the visuals were too busy and the audio was flawed and overworked. CGI was beautiful and detailed (but overused) at some parts. I would recommend the movie to kids, which is the target audience, but can't imagine many parents liking it.