Beauty and the Box Office Beast

Rating: 6/10 (13 June 2017)

Beauty and the Beast has gone through a lot of movie and TV variations over the years and luckily I have only seen a few. I watched the black and white 1946 French "La Belle et la Bete" last year, and I have seen the cartoon countless times but have never watched any of the TV iterations or other movies and I am glad for this otherwise I would say this is movie overload.
Beauty and the Beast is a bright eyed loving remake of the cartoon from the choreography down to the songs and even the script. In many respects that is what makes it fun to watch. As many of you know, I have a very complicated relationship with Hollywood and their remakes and reboots because I hate most of them but when it comes to Disney they have been making some really great live action remakes of their beloved cartoons and this one is no exception.
The casting was spot on, and Emma Watson is a perfect fit for Belle. All of the other characters also shine but I particularly enjoyed Gaston and LeFou as a pair. Luke Evans and Josh Gad, respectively, worked so well off of each other and added some fun comedy to the mix. Most of their interactions were a little over the top but I was able to channel that frustration towards the children behind me kicking my seats.
There were also some really noisy people next to me who kept laughing and shouting and one phone went off as well. It was at this point that I really appreciated the plight of the Beast in the film. I really wanted to attack many people around me and tell them to get out of my castle and as each rose petal fell in the film, so did the rose petals holding my patience together. I think it is very important to note that when you are going to see a movie you should make sure that not only is your phone off but that your crying child is fully out of the theater and not just around the corner so you can still watch the movie. I know it is frustrating that you have a child but also really want to go see this movie from your childhood but a good parent can wait for this movie to come to Netflix instead of forcing a packed theater hear your child scream as the wonderful musical numbers come across the screen.
Overall, this is a great date movie. It is also perfect for those of us who loved the cartoon growing up and don't yet have a young child that doesn't like loud noises. I think while some parts of the movie were over the top, nothing really took away from the movie besides all of the children who took one thousand years to open their bags of candy and as the crunchy sounds of the packaging pushed me over the edge, the soundtrack and score saved me from jumping.