Left me cold

Rating: 5/10 (21 March 2017)

This romance failed at being romantic. Weak dialogue, too much focus on distractingly massive musical production numbers, a lack of chemistry between Belle and her CGI construct Beast, and a frantic pace created in editing, all contributed to a lack of affection or sense of connection to the characters or their relationship.
The film is absolutely lovely to look at, but for me it was almost unbearable to watch. The verbal exchanges often made me cringe when they weren't annoyingly banal. I think the script was dumbed-down to what the producers hoped would be comprehensible to a very preteen audience. But I suspect that all most children will notice is the spectacle and some clever CGI animated characters. Even a teenager probably won't perceive any romance in the film.
As for the music, it is of course, familiar...unfortunately. BECAUSE I am familiar with the brilliant performances in the original, animated version of "Beauty and the Beast," I had that superior soundtrack to compare with this version. Emma Watson's vocals are credible, although they were often noticeably auto-tuned. And I would not expect to hear her performing in any animated production where the singing could be done by a superior voice. All the other numbers were at the level of a middling live theater cast with nothing standing out. Even the title song failed in it's role as a "show-stopper."
All in all, this live-action "Beauty and the Beast" is the most disappointing, unsatisfying Disney film this Disney fanatic has every watched.