Hermoine and her Beast

Rating: 6/10 (19 March 2017)

Beauty and the Beast is live action adaptation of the beloved 90's animation of the same name. It follows the nerdy Belle as she leaps off her small provincial town to be trapped in the mysterious world of the Beast. I would not lie, this film really leaves a lot of things to be talked about as it really is quite a mixed bag of positives and negatives.
To start off my discussion, the first half of the film is very confusing. It felt like a lot of exposition needed to firmly root the relationships within this updated film were left out. I could not help but be lost at times when some 'different-from-the- original' moments happens every now and then. Also, it negatively affected the setup of some scenes further down the film. In addition, the first half of the film was oddly centered in showcasing the film's special effects and uncomfortably darker than expected.
Secondly, a lot of acting in this film left me with very mixed feelings. Emma Watson just did not do it for me as Belle. Though the modern interpretation of Belle is interesting to say the least , Watson does not have enough charisma to carry her character. Also, while I do not see anything bad staying true to the original, I was really bothered by some awful voice acting in this film. If they cannot make a good impression of the original , then maybe change it up. I cannot stop cringing every time I hear awful voice impression every now and then.
Lastly, the effects in this film is shockingly wonky. Given that this is a huge production, I am kinda disappointed how the CGI characters is very stilted and hindered some of the framing in this film, especially those scenes including Mrs.Potts. Also, those CGI pan shots are migraine hazards, gosh. Those scenes were the worst.
On the positive side, when the Beast and Belle started to appear together and the romance portion of the film starts to pick up, everything just suddenly worked for the better. The mood, the story and the changes are just better than the first half. Also, I kinda find the lightening of the overall mood of the film greatly lift the film from its intensely stiff first half.
Acting wise, Luke Evans and Olaf takes this film. They were both stayed true to the original yet their expressed it as their very own. They pretty much stole the show every time they are on the screen. In addition, Ewan Mcgrewor and Ian Mckellen were amazing in their respective voice role as Lumiere, and Cogsworth.
Overall, Disney's live-action film update to the much beloved animated film is a mix high highs and low lows but in the end, the film stayed true to what the original intended to be and it kinda worked. I might not say it is better than the original (which, take note, also did not do it for me) but it is an admirable try and surely an enjoyable watch[3/5]