Hermione and the Beast

Rating: 7/10 (24 November 2019)

"Beauty and the Beast" is a 2017 musical romance directed by Bill Condon starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens. Upon its release, I had mixed feelings about the idea of a live action remake of one of my favourite childhood films. We can all argue what's the point of a remake, but an adaptation that seems to be exactly like the original film? I can not deny that I still consider this one and the other remakes as unnecessary and money driven projects. But since yesterday was a promised movie night with my little sister and I don't have anything suitable for her in my shelf, she chose this one from her own. Honestly, it was not as bad as I expected. The biggest benefit from this movie is the pompous style and colorful costume design. The film crew literally managed to transfer the the magic and splendor of the animated flick on to the big screen. Additionally, every character was casted perfectly and as I expected, each and everyone delivered greatly. Next to this, I was glad that they still included the original songs. It's also notable that they also added a few new details to the tale as old as time, some derived from the original fairy tale, some completly new. Although it may not sound like it, the film also had a few flaws: The design of the beast appeared a bit to harmless to me and most of the most dramatic scenes of the original film (the wolves fighting scene, the showdown on the roof) lacked the emotional depth and dramatic essence they had before. I'm aware that they had to change it, because they targeted a younger audience and it would have been way to brutal to make it so packing, but I still think a little more tension would not have destroyed the concept. The visual effects and performances make it up a bit at least. All in all, this remake still might be unnecessary, but it's highly enjoyable for both, the young and the old generation, and delivers great fun from start to finish. It doesn't want to achieve anything else and was mostly made for a younger audience and as I saw my sister smiling the whole time, I knew that I was right. Watchable, but it definitely doesn't outshine the original.