Title: Beauty & the Beast (live action)
Distributed By: Walt Disney Studios
Age Rating: PG
Genre: Children's, Family, Fairytale
DVD Release Date: 17th July 2017
DVD Run Time: 129 minutes
ABOUT THE FILM
ABOUT THE FILM
The story and characters audiences know and love come to
spectacular life in the live-action adaptation of Disney’s animated classic
“Beauty and the Beast,” a stunning, cinematic event celebrating one of the most
beloved tales ever told. “Beauty and the Beast” is the fantastic journey of
Belle, a bright, beautiful and independent young woman who is taken prisoner by
a Beast in his castle. Despite her fears, she befriends the castle’s enchanted
staff and learns to look beyond the Beast’s hideous exterior and realize the
kind heart of the true Prince within. The film stars: Emma Watson as Belle; Dan
Stevens as the Beast; Luke Evans as Gaston, the handsome, but shallow villager
who woos Belle; Kevin Kline as Maurice, Belle’s father; Josh Gad as Le Fou,
Gaston’s long-suffering aide-de-camp; Ewan McGregor as Lumière, the candelabra;
Stanley Tucci as Maestro Cadenza, the harpsichord; Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Plumette,
the feather duster; Audra McDonald as Madame De Garderobe, the wardrobe; Hattie
Morahan as the enchantress; and Nathan Mack as Chip, the teacup; with Ian
McKellen as Cogsworth, the mantel clock; and Emma Thompson as the teapot, Mrs.
Potts.
PURCHASE LINKS
REVIEW
So this is another remake. This time the classic Beauty &
the Beast in a live action form as opposed to the animated version. To be
totally honest I am super, super critical when it comes to Disney remakes or Disney
animations turned into Disney live action. In that I love some I hate some, kind
of like “marmite”.
Basically, it is exactly the same story with real life actors
mixed with the excellent Animations/CGI we have come to expect from Walt Disney
Studios. This version of Beauty & the Beast has lots of big musical scenes. I’m probably going to show my age here but the big songs made me
think of the likes of Carousel and Oklahoma.
A character that performed flawlessly in my opinion was actor Luke Evans as
Gaston, the arrogant hunter who desperately wants Belle to be his wife.
Speaking of Belle, the honour of being her went to well known actress Emma
Watson (probably best known for being Hermione Grainger in the fantastic Harry
Potter Series). I honestly had my doubts as to whether I would truly like her
as Belle but I was pleasantly surprised and ended up adoring her portrayal of Belle.
For me not everyone was cast 100% right so what I thought to the other actors/actresses . . .Though I did love Mrs Potts, both in animated form and in life/human
form, I felt Emma Thompson portrayed her satisfactorily. However in my
opinion, and you can call me an old softie but no one, no one at all could ever
beat Angela Lansbury as Mrs Potts. To me Angela Lansbury is the perfect Mrs
Potts! Of course, Mrs Potts is only half of the great endearing yet comical
duo, with Chip being the other half. In this DVD Chip is played very well by
Nathan Mack. Other animated favourites that underwent the transformation fairly well were Cogsworth, voiced and acted by Ian McKellan. Madame de Garderobe was actress, Audra McDonald. Of course, there are lots of animated
favourites to be transferred into this live action version of the film. Continuing with Lumiere, the candelabra, which was really well performed by Ewan McGregor. One
quite sizeable difference in the animated version of Beauty & the Beast and
the live action one was the “maid” as I remember her from books and the older animations.
In this modern live action, the character is referred to as Plumette, the
feather duster and is played by actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Maybe it’s just my
memory that has mixed things up but I really thought she was dressed as a maid?!
So now what I personally thought to the DVD and this newer
version of what I would describe as being a popular Disney movie. I felt there
was not enough emphasis on Belle and the fact that she adores books. (Yeah, I
do admit I identify with Belle & her books 100%). I felt some of the actors
& actresses were trying to put on too much of a “silver teaspoon in your mouth” British
voice. Some of the casting just didn’t feel the right “fit”. For me, there was a few too many big song productions, though they are done well. It felt like it was trying to compete with the big classics
such as Oklahoma, Carousel and childhood favourites such as Bedknobs & Broomsticks.
It just felt a bit too much. I wanted less songs and more backstory on my
favourites such as Mrs Potts and Chip, Lumiére and Plumette and Cogsworth. I guess it comes down to personal taste.
My immediate thoughts after watching the DVD were that I
still preferred the 1992 fully animated version. Emma Watson made a beautiful,
believable Belle. Luke Evan’s the actor portraying Gaston was well cast. But I
did not like the actor who played Beast when he is transformed into the human
Prince, he just didn’t fit my vision of what the Prince should look like.
As soon as I finished watching the film, I did a list of how
well I thought the actors and actresses were cast and portrayed. It's not a full cast list, just the stand out characters in the fairy-tale itself.
(I have scored a selection of them out of ten.)
Beast as Beast 10/10
Beast as Human Prince 2/10 (sorry I just didn’t like him)
Belle 10/10
Gaston 9/10
Cogsworth 7/10
Lumiere 6/10
Plumette 5/10
Mrs Potts 3/10 (sorry it needed to be Angela Lansbury)
Chip 7/10
Wardrobe 7/10
Coat Stand 8/10
Piano 6/10
Footstool 8/10
So, have you watched both versions of Beauty & the Beast?
Which do you prefer? Are there any actors or actresses you didn’t like or
thought could be portrayed better by someone different?
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