Beauty and the Beast — Review
‘Beauty and the Beast’ is, um, again! It’s uh… ‘Beauty and the Beast!’ Remember it? Of course you do. You best believe Disney pulled out all the stops to bring everything you remembered as a kid, from Alan Menken’s songs to that iconic yellow dress, back to give you that desired nostalgia high and make them truck-loads of cash without even having to write a new story. And not even a guy who directed two ‘Twilight’ movies could fuck that up!
This is what Disney does now —when they’re not doing original animation or Star Wars and Avengers sequels/spinoffs, you can bet they’re spending the big bucks on live-action remakes of their animated hits that people my age will whine about and then go see anyway. And, I guess, I few kids or whatever as well.
Two years ago we were given a ‘Cinderella’ update, which was a fine if uninspired film featuring two great performances. Last year we were treated to something much more exciting, a ‘Jungle Book’ movie with cutting edge digital effects that pulled off the family adventure flick in a better fashion than had been done in years. With those two animated films of yesteryear, there was at least rooms for improvement both in the realms of artistic quality and political correctness. These changes were handled by Disney in safe enough ways as to offend no one, but the question remained of how they could possibly justify a redo of the first-ever animated film to be nominated for Best Picture.
With what I remember about the original (which I admittedly probably should have watched again before this, but here’s where I say I’m relying mostly on VHS-era recollections for that one) it seems like they’ve made Belle a slightly stronger and more active protagonist. But besides that the only answer I can come up with there (beyond a new and very large amount of money, naturally) is giving us something to make us feel good in uncertain times. And while I’m all about fun movies that leave you feeling good — I did name ‘La La Land’ my #1 film of last year — I much prefer something like that, which felt both timeless and new and exciting, to a shined up version of ancient formula.
This year’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’ was more enjoyable, for me at least, than the recent ‘Cinderella,’ although I’m not sure how much of that was owed to the 1991 film versus what they actually accomplished this time round. A few things I didn’t really like (because we all know the plot by now): the castle, while pretty at times, looked fake in a video-gamey type of digital way for a lot of shots that take us around the grounds; curious that the fantasy action and animated characters should appear more life-like than a simple pan around the film’s main setting. Also Josh Gad is someone, I’ll confess, who’s always annoyed me a little bit. And, to be fair, in certain projects, that seems to be the point. However here, while everyone seems to be playing this fairy tale stuff straight, he gives an awkward and decidedly contemporary performance, essentially winking at the camera and forever threatening to go all the way and break the fourth wall, playing the bully Gaston’s hero-worshipping sidekick ‘LeFou’ (“the fool,” in French). And for a character who’s ultimately supposed to be sympathetic, it’s awfully difficult to get past the smug, obnoxious energy behind this performance.
Before I get into stuff I liked I guess I’ll briefly mention “the gay moment,” as it’s somehow become a discussion topic. Though LeFou clearly has a thing for Gaston throughout the movie (and didn’t he also in the ’91 picture, really?), this specifically refers to a moment, which lasts for about two seconds, in which two men (one of whom wears a dress) dance with each other, and seem happy to be doing so. I’m going to go ahead and chalk this supposed controversy up to America being more backward and uncivilized than some of us might have realized before Trump was elected, rather than Disney being so “brave.” Give me a goddamn break.
As for the stuff I liked, well, Emma Watson is charming as Belle, and despite some of the internet hate, it turns out that Hermione can, in fact, carry a tune. The songs (most of which are recycled, with a few exceptions) are still catchy and Luke Evans projects an appropriately hammy naiveté as the thug Gaston. Emma Thompson is lovely and perfectly cast as Mrs. Potts, the servants’ teapot matriarch who serenades our lovers with the titular song for their big dance number. Ewan McGregor brings the cartoon candle Lumiere to lovable life, and perhaps most important of all, by the end I cared a little. ‘Beauty and the Beast’ is at the very least satisfying mainstream entertainment, so if you want to go consume that cinematic comfort food, hey man, I don’t judge.
I do though, highly recommend, if you’ve never seen it, checking out Jean Cocteau’s wonderful 1946 version ‘La Belle et la Bete,’ a magical film for kids and adults alike. And if you love movies but would prefer something modern that will challenge you as a viewer you could instead go see Julia Ducournau’s darkly comic body-horror shocker ‘Raw’ or Jordan Peele’s brilliant race-centric thriller ‘Get Out.’ I caught those last two a bit late to do what I’d consider to be a relevant review, so there’s my shoutout (at least till I get my year-end list). Daniel out.
