Beauty and the Beast.

Rating: 10/10 (8 February 1999)

Tim Burton has updated an old tale of the misunderstood and scary-looking beast (Edward) and his love relationship with an incomparable beauty (Kim or Winona Ryder). The tale is modernized (sort of) into a suburbia America setting with 60's styles houses, clothing, cars, and people. The reason this movie is so likable is simply because it interweave's romanticism and darkness with bits of comedy to relieve the tension of the viewer. This dark fable puts chills down your spine (e.g. when Edward first steps out of the darkness of the attic to meet Peg) while at the same time fills your heart with an equal mixture of happiness and sorrow. In addition, Burton's picture was filmed with great elegance. Who can forget the scene when Edward is carving the ice sculptor and Kim is dancing in the snow he has created? The ending of the movie is not as melancholy as everyone believes. It is revelatory about who the real monster is. This movie can obviously be compared with other tales of individuals who were also outcasts in their society such as Frankenstein and Burton's other masterpiece, Batman. This work of Burton's is his personal statement to all pariahs who have ever been spurned by the greater populus.