Walt Disney Pictures, the crown jewel of animated studios, seems hellbent on convincing the consumer that live-action remakes of classic animated films is a superb idea. In the same vein as 2015’s “Cinderella” and 2016’s “The Jungle Book,” 2017 has brought us the tale as old as time, coupled with tremendous star power and the same glorified special effects that seemed to make “The Jungle Book” seem majestic and lifelike.
Unfortunately for “Beauty and the Beast,” these special effects are one of the remake’s biggest perils, alongside a cluttered narrative that harms the original plot rather than improve it.
In the opening scene, we are given insight to the backstory of the Beast, weaving together an expansion from from the of the 1991 original, which initially is promising. The mystery and spectacle of this narrative alongside backstory for Belle’s family has so much potential for shaping the characters that we watched as children, but this new insight does little for characters, because the film simply clutters itself with quantity rather than focusing on the quality that made the animated feature such a revolutionary classic.
It’s the nostalgic moments that bring the best moments out of “Beauty and the Beast.” After the opening scene, we’re immediately thrust a scene that perfectly mimics the original’s introduction of Belle, and the music is as excellent as it was 26 years ago. The show-stopping numbers of “Be Our Guest” and “Gaston” seem to have been made for live-action, and the finished product is a spectacle of colors and show business that is a significant step up from the animated original.
Driving forward one of the aforementioned scenes is the performance of Ewan McGregor as Lumiere, who is arguably the best part of the entire film. Akin to “Moulin Rouge!” in which McGregor showcased his capacity for song, the actor brings more life to Lumiere than most of the actual humans on the screen, alongside Sir Ian McKellen’s Cogsworth. The duo has more chemistry than Belle and the Beast do, which is a testament to the expertise that the two are able to craft using only their voices.
That’s not to say that Emma Watson is a terrible choice for Belle. She portrays the princess as more pragmatic and independent than her animated counterpoint, which is indeed a plus, but her performance never transcends simply just being “alright.” Luke Evans outdoes this in his portrayal of Gaston, and his character goes from being arrogantly villainous in the original to a borderline sociopath, with hints at his past military service driving forward the narrative that Gaston’s head is damaged beyond repair. While he portrays the role excellently and steals most scenes that he is in, this portrayal feels less like a Disney villain than anything we’ve seen before, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
The Beast, on the other hand, is one of the film’s greatest failures. The special effects creating the monster are horrendous and are distracting during every moment that he is on screen. For a company that was excellent in the same department for “The Jungle Book,” it’s disappointing to watch the bad-CGI clutter the screen throughout. Sequences such as the film’s closing number seem to have special effects added just because of Disney’s large budget and desire to make the film feel like a spectacle, and it doesn’t pay off. Emma Watson seems to be consumed by everything going on around her, and during “Be Our Guest” I even forgot that she was sitting at the table the entire time.
Just one look at the trailer will show you how bad the CGI really is, and there’s little room for justification. If “The Jungle Book” was able to do it so well with a budget that was only slightly better than “Beauty and the Beast,” then the film should have taken more focus on the subject matter. The cluttered mess of bad special effects takes away from the magic that made the animated film so special, and if the magic is gone, then a Disney film cannot succeed.
“Beauty and the Beast” isn’t the worst movie of the year, but expectations seemed to have broken the film. The best moments are the nostalgic scenes that mimic the original and don’t get bogged down into making the film seem new and fresh, and the shortcomings fall when the attempts to add quantity defeat the quality that existed in 1991. Disney might ask you to be their guest for this remake, but this time, you should deny that invitation.
