A beautiful adaptation of the tale as old as time

Rating: 9/10 (21 March 2017)

I went into this film with low expectations. Beauty and the Beast was one of my favourite Disney films as a child and I really connected to the character of Belle (the brunette with brains).
Fortunately, I was incredibly impressed. Although typically I find Emma Watson wooden and self-conscious as an actress, she did redeem herself as the film went on, with her sweetness and gusto. She's the perfect Belle; a natural beauty. It was refreshing to see an actress portray Belle with no Hollywood tweaks, surgery or artifice. Watson was born to play the role and I cannot think of another popular actress who could be Belle.
Luke Evans as Gaston - well, what can be said. He EMBODIED this role and brought life to the character. Lefou was also interpreted in a refreshing way.
There were a few craws that stuck. It was obvious that Disney was trying to pander to the #oscarssowhite crowd by randomly peppering the cast with black actors and actresses. In other films, this would be fine, but Beauty and the Beast is a classic fairy tale, and it seemed obvious that black actors were added to appease the baying mob. No Asian, Latino or Native American actors for instance...I wonder why (sarcasm off). This tendency to shoehorn diversity into a project felt pandering and inappropriate and even took me slightly out of the film (yes, I know it's a film with talking cutlery and a beast but still...) Yes, the beast was CGI'd but this didn't bother me at all. I felt the beast and Emma had a believable connection as they slowly fell in love.
All in all, I was moved by this magical story and feel reconnected to my inner child.
A must watch for children (and big children) of all ages.