Beauty and the Beast (2017)

***Beauty and the Beast*** is a 2017 American musical romantic fantasy film directed by Bill Condon from a screenplay by Stephen Chbosky and Evan Spiliotopoulos. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Mandeville Films, the film is a live action adaptation of Disney's 1991 animated film of the same name, itself an adaptation of Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's 1756 version of the fairy tale. Starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens as the eponymous Belle and the Beast, the film features an ensemble and choir cast including Luke Evans, Kevin Kline, Josh Gad, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Audra McDonald, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Ian McKellen, and Emma Thompson.

A live-action *Beauty and the Beast* remake was first announced in April 2014, with Condon hired to direct it; Watson, Stevens, Evans and the rest of the cast signed on between January and April 2015. Filming took place primarily at Shepperton Studios in England from May to August 2015. With an estimated budget of around $255 million, it is one of the most expensive films ever made.

*Beauty and the Beast* premiered at Spencer House in London on February 23, 2017, and was theatrically released in the United States in standard, Disney Digital 3-D, RealD 3D, IMAX, and IMAX 3D formats, along with Dolby Cinema on March 17, 2017. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its cast, songs, and visual detail. It grossed over $1.2 billion worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing live-action musical film, making it the second-highest-grossing film of 2017 (after *Star Wars: The Last Jedi*), and the tenth-highest-grossing film of all time. The film received several accolades, including two nominations at the 90th Academy Awards, four nominations at the 23rd Critics' Choice Awards, and two nominations at the 71st British Academy Film Awards. A spin-off television series, *Little Town*, was in development, but has been postponed indefinitely.

## Why It's STILL As Old As Time

1. The visuals are very dazzling to look at.
2. The songs, while some of them shoehorned, are still great.
	* Even the Beast's song, *Evermore* (especially the version sang by Dan Stevens), is quite magnificent.
3. Beautiful cinematography, especially for the castle.
4. We get somewhat decent backstories to how Belle’s mother died (despite her name never mentioned, as previously stated before) and how the Beast turned into a selfish jerk when his father raised him.
5. The idea that the Enchanted Objects would turn into unanimated objects if the curse wasn't broken in time adds drama and tension to the film, whereas this wasn't mentioned in the original film and nothing seemed to indicate that the Beast's failure to break the curse would kill the servants (even though it was planned).
6. Plumette now has a larger role than she has in the original and has a better chemistry with Lumiere than Belle and the Beast.
7. Fixed some plot holes, like we figured out what happened to Belle's mother and why the Beast became a selfish jerk, as a result of his cruel father in the aftermath of his mother's death.
8. LeFou is at least less of a Butt-Monkey than he was in the original, as shown when he betrays Gaston to save Mrs Potts, becoming the second Disney Villain to have more heroic qualities in a live action adaptation, unlike with the tyrannical father of Aurora, King Stefan, in *Maleficent*, the Grand Duke in *Cinderella*, and King Louie in *The Jungle Book*.
	* Beast servants are still likeable and are pretty fun characters.
	* Maurice is now a more smarter and protective dad over Belle rather than being a punching bag.
	* At least The Enchantress undoes the curse which repairs the crumbling castle, revives the Beast and restores him and his servants to their human forms.
9. Despite Emma Watson's bad casting choice, her performance was pretty decent.
	* Also most of the other actors have good performances.
10. Nice production values.
11. Decent pacing for the most part.
12. Good costume design (expect for Belle's signature ball gown), mainly for Human Lumiere and the male villagers, unlike the original animated film.
13. At least Cogsworth has a white wig for his status as royal advisor.
14. The ending isn't too rushed like the original.

## Mixed Qualities

1. While feeling like unnecessary additions, the new songs are also great.
2. While the idea of having Agathe in a larger role may not have been well executed, others tolerate this change.

## Bad Qualities

1. Bad CGI animation for the Beast and his enchanted servants.
2. While being more likable and fleshed out, the scene where he dances with Stanley is too controversial, which is why the film got banned in some nations.
3. Belle's signature gold ballgown is too bad.
4. The Final battle between Beast and Gaston is not too climatic and more violent since Gaston shoots the Beast three times.
5. While faithful to the original and borrowing some elements from the broadway and original fairy tale, this is too similar to the original animated film.
6. Very weak chemistry between Belle and the Beast, as they’re technically flanderized (depending on your perspective)