Compared to the original it's awful but it's entertaining nonetheless; Would Recommend

Rating: 7/10 (10 May 2017)

Directed by Bill Condon
Starring Emma Watson, Dan Stevens and Luke Evans
Plot Overview: ​After her father is kidnapped and held hostage in a mysterious castle, Belle(Emma Watson) takes his place but soon begins falling for her captor... a beast(Dan Stevens)!
I get the hate for this movie. Nothing exceeds the original and the original will be marked as an all time classic. If you compare both these movies side by side, this movie will suck, I promise you that. Despite that, this movie is still entertaining. Flawed? Yes. Outright awful? No. It has its flaws, nearly every movie does, but that doesn't take away from some of the good in this movie. If you haven't seen the original(I recommend you do) I imagine you'll enjoy this movie for the most part. If you have seen the original and are going to constantly compare this movie to that, then you won't enjoy this movie. Overall, I will say this movie is worth watching, and I imagine most audiences(especially children) will really enjoy this movie. Also, if you prevent your child/refuse to see this movie because of the alleged Le Foue gay controversy then you have nothing to worry about. They gloss over it is seconds and it won't bother you at all.
The story is a 'tale as old as time' but that doesn't make it any less magical, exciting and enjoyable. It's pretty much the story of the original with a few tweaks here and there so if you've seen the original, you'll know the story and won't be surprised(much) but if you haven't then you'll get to experience a wonderful story for the first time in live action. Either way, it's a good story.
I will say that most of the casting in this movie is absolutely flawless. Emma Watson was fine as Belle but she isn't the best singer and when she is, it's clearly been heavily edited. They explore Belle's character more in this version which I will say was pretty nice and a welcome inclusion. Dan Stevens was great as the Beast but I do feel like he could have put more care into some of his scenes and not rushed things. There were many scenes that should have had greater meaning and effect but didn't, and that was down partly to Steven's portrayal but mostly down to Condon's direction. I also didn't like the arc of the Beast and though it was primarily just a straight line with no curves or edges. Luke Evans was just fantastic as Gaston and plays the part to perfection. He made the role his own and was easily one of the best parts of this movie. Gaston is also just a really great villain. He's awesome. You can't mention Gaston without his buddy Le Foue(played wonderfully by Josh Gad) who has had some tweaks to his character and arc(some of which stupidly garnered controversy) all of which I like and am happy Disney went with. Both Ewan McGregor and Ian McKellen were great as Lumiere and Cogsworth respectively and both their characters stood out for me. Kevin Kline was also really good as Maurice and the relationship between him and Belle was explored more and was another welcome improvement.
On a technical standpoint, this movie is absolutely gorgeous and looks amazing. The visual effects were all awesome, even if I would have done the Beast a tad differently. Both the costume and set design were all really good and looked nice with the time period. The cinematography was also amazing.
While this movie made some minor changes, it didn't add/remove/alter enough for me to say a sequel was needed or warranted. It was reasonably funny but some of the jokes were clearly aimed at the lowest possible denominator. It did need to reintroduce this classic tale to children of this age but some of the kids in my audience were crying and even I was pretty shocked by how graphic some scenes were(as far as making the audience scared goes) and scare factor of some scenes. The action was amazing though and it didn't even need to be that great.
They do carry over much of the music from the original(while adding new songs) but none of them are done as well as in the original and none of them were performed to a spectacular degree.
In conclusion, if you can ignore the existence of the original you will most likely enjoy this movie. The acting is great, the story is great, the visuals are gorgeous but it does lack some of the charm and sense of wonder that the original did posses. Despite this, I can say I recommend this movie as long as you can forget the existence of the 1991 Classic.
7/10
Would Recommend