It still manages to enjoy and surprise some moments. Sadly they forgot to tell a realistic feeling love story between the Beauty and a Beast.

Rating: 5/10 (13 July 2017)

*No major spoilers, some minor plot points are discussed.*
Characters and Acting: So the original cast was perfect. In this remake there are only a few actors that feel perfect. I mostly like Luke Evans as Gaston, I thought he was excellent. Some of the supporting cast is close to improving over the original. Especially Ewan Mccregor and Sir Ian McKellen steal the show. They really seem to capture the spirit of their characters. With these people being pretty much perfect, everyone else is just 'good.' Emma Watson as Belle sort of fits the part. She has a good heart as Belle, and she can stand for herself when she needs to, but it still looks like she is just being Emma Watson for most of the time. The Beast is sadly one of the film most weak parts. I don't feel like he makes such a development over the course of two hours.
Story and Dialogue: The story is as expected mostly the same as the original. There are a few changes here and there, but some of them don't seem to add anything new to it, it's just done with the purpose of being different. There are here and there some added scenes that we never knew before about Belle or where she came from that are nice to know, but it eventually goes nowhere. My biggest disappointment however is the fact that I have only one flaw with the 1991 version; that being that the part where they fall in love goes kind of fast. With this film being around two hours, I was hoping they would improve my only flaw with the original. Sadly they didn't. Even worse: they pay even less time on the connection between Belle and the Beast, which would be the point of the entire movie. Right now it feels more like Belle stays at the castle because she has a good connection with the servants instead of the Beast.
Editing and Pacing: The editing in the movie is fine. It doesn't stand out, but it also doesn't distract you, so it does its job. The pacing however could be improved. When the 50-minute mark hit, I was asking myself if they would give the Beast some screen time. For the length this movie had it's a letdown that there is so less development in the relation between Belle and the Beast.
Music and Sound: Thankfully the makers noticed that you can't improve over the classical musical score of the original one, so its mostly the same. The singing however shifts from really good to laughably bad auto-tuning. I already said that Gaston sounded the best, also because Luke Evans really acted the singing in the scenes that he sung. When I see Emma Watson's Belle singing, it really sounds like it is recorded in a studio, and later dubbed in the movie. I believe the actors do sing nice, but I can't tell if they had to fix singing errors from the recording or if they just screwed up the sound mixing.
Cinematography and Effects: The movies gives a very good impression of how the look of the animated movie would look in real life. I love the design of the sets and the attributes. For the CGI effects, sometimes it looks great and so real you can swear you can touch everything you can see on the screen. But then there are also some scenes you swear you are watching a Pixar animated Disney film. Especially the big landscape shots really look distracting. Then you also have the Beast, who sometimes looks like he is actually there, but sometimes there are some awkward shots, like when he lays in bed, you wonder why one his horns keeps disappearing so weirdly behind his pillow.
Rewatchability: In terms of a watch I'd say: 'Sure, go watch this movie. Once.' For a re-watch, i'd say: 'Watch the original.' It's nice to have the knowledge of some added scenes that give some characters more backstory, but in the end it doesn't make this movie more special. Watch the old one again, with the knowledge that you get with this movie.
Deeper Meaning or Motives/Themes: The story has a beautiful message about beauty being not everything, it's about what is inside someone. Sadly I don't feel like I've experienced this message much in this movie. It's the fact that I know the story and I have already learned the message from the original, but I feel like this version doesn't express its main theme enough. Sadly they forgot to add the awesome red/blue color motive, look it up!
Tone: One more thing the movie does well is give a good mix between live- action and over-the-top animation humor and style. The sometimes over-the-top acting really fits in the movie, while also giving a sense that the characters are still actual people. This is hard to do and I give the movie credit for succeeding in tone.
Personal Response: I thought the first 45 minutes of the movie were the best. I almost wish they would transform the added scenes into animation style and add it to the 1991 version. After that it falls kind of flat, mainly because of the lack of interest in the Beast, which is a shame. Love should come from two sides, so it takes more that just developing Belle to keep us interested. I did enjoy the movie, but it is just a single time watch for me.
Conclusion: Seeing how it was a risk to remake one of the best animated movies of all time, Beauty and the Beast (2017) still manages to enjoy and surprise some moments. Sadly the filmmakers forgot to give the focus on the core story line that makes the original so good, that being a realistic feeling love story between the Beauty and a Beast.