Beauty and the Beast (2017), PG, ★★1/2

"Tale as old as time..."

Ever since the first few trailers were out, legions of people, young and old, were enamored by the 1991 animated classic being transfigured into an illuminating live-action movie. As more material and/or images surfaced, people that I have talked to or reports were mixed because of its visual effects and The Beast and I will get to that later in the review. However, there was another controversy that I will talk in-depth from both an audience perspective and a business perspective. Going into the movie, I had very good expectations but not an excellent expectation because I did not think that the animated would be improved compared to the live-action versions of Cinderella and The Jungle Book, which I thought were better than the animated movies. Based on my experience, this is a solid, not perfect, re-telling of this fairy tale that blended the intricate production design and magic with more character development.

The movie starts differently than the animated version that is more of a prologue that a narration. A spoiled and selfish Prince (Dan Stevens) lives in a castle throwing parties. One night, an old beggar woman enters into the castle and offers the Prince a rose in exchange for shelter from the cold. He denies her repeatedly. After denying her offer, the old woman has transformed into a beautiful Enchantress. After witnessing that he has no kindness in his heart, she punishes the Prince by transforming into the Beast along with his staff. The Beast is left with a magic mirror and a rose. If the Beast can earn the love of a young woman before the last rose petal falls, he can be transformed back. However, if not, he is a Beast forever.

Years later in the town of Villeneuve, a young woman named Belle (Emma Watson) is lounging around the village with the people looking at her and singing how odd she is. She is pursued by the narcissistic hunter, Gaston (Luke Evans) with the accompaniment of his comrade, Le Fou (Josh Gad).  Belle turns down Gaston's offer to dinner and scoffs at his behavior. Belle has a great bond with her father, Maurice (Kevin Kline), who is a music box maker. He is in the process of creating a music box in the memory of his late wife and Belle's late mother. After a conversation, Maurice sets off to sell his music boxes.

Maurice rides through the forest with his horse, Philippe, where snow is falling and after they have fled from a pack of wolves, he encounters a castle. Maurice enters the castle and is spotted by Lumiere (Ewan McGregor), the candelabra, and Cogsworth (Ian McKellen), a clock. When he spots Chip (Nathan Mack), a tea cup, Maurice rushes out of the castle and as he is about to take a rose for Belle, Beast spots him, accuses him of being a thief and takes him in as prisoner. As Belle finds Philippe roaming into the town alone, she rides back and goes into the castle where she finds Maurice in the dungeon. Belle offers to take his place, in exchange for Maurice to be free. Beast agrees to the exchange and Belle is trapped in the castle...maybe forever.

There's no one like Gaston.

I like the movie but I was not as blown away mainly by Bill Condon's direction or how he structured with the narrative that is relevant to the characters. The one element that is much appreciated is the character background of the main characters with Belle's past and also Beast's past as it is revealed of that he is not such an unruly ruler. We learn about what happened to Belle's mother and Beast's mother and father. However, there were changes onto the script that expanded that filled in some plot holes in the animated movie even though it did not interfere with my experience.

Now, I have to address this controversy about Le Fou being a gay character. Now, from an audience perspective, the noticeable hint was there for five seconds at most. It may be important right now because of what's going on in this divisive time after the election. However, it is not relevant to the subplot. There's nothing wrong with their creative decision. What is wrong is that their tactic was a bit too risky and a bit controversial from the business perspective because Disney is a family-oriented company. There are still people out there, mainly mothers and fathers, who are defensive about this issue and could hurt the box-office potential just because they jump to opinionated conclusions and protect their younger children. I would not have address it a few weeks before the movie comes out because I would like for them to experience the movie and get the results that Disney will be happy with. I am saying five seconds should not deteriorate your experience because the main story is revolving around Beast's and Belle's identity and not the political issues such as feminism, politics or orientation. Times have changed since the 1991 version have came out.

Emma Watson is fine in the main role as Belle as she is a intellectual bookworm that wants to change Beast's personality. She is so kind. Even though her singing abilities are not the best in a few numbers, she does her best with Alan Menken's fantastic songs, both new and old songs. Dan Stevens impressed me as he captured the emotional presence in the Beast CGI layers and he sings real well. Kevin Kline gives a great performance as his father. Luke Evans basically steals the movie as the villain. And even though the CGI was a bit distracting and could not see their personalities in comparison to the animated, Ewan McGregor, Ian McKellen, Stanley Tucci, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Emma Thompson give good performances.

The only criticism that drags down the movie a notch is that the new material does not elevate much into anything magical. The new songs, even though I liked two songs, are not as memorable but they are solid compositions. The prologue seemed a bit unnecessary because it added extra time because I liked how they started the movie in the animated movie and it becomes redundant as they recite the same dialogue later in the movie as the Prince was not as unkind. The CGI, especially in the Beast, was a bit distracting at times.

You see with the other live-action movies, there was room for improvement. With this movie, it is hard to improve an animated classic. Did this version shatter my nostalgia? No. I liked this movie for its lavish production designs, solid performances, the chemistry between Stevens and Watson, music and actually, a fantastic conclusion. However, there was a little lack of tension and emotion building up to the conclusion especially in the number where they want to kill the Beast because the set looked so small. Even though it is not a great live-action movie, it has the privilege to honor the original animated movie. Overall, it is a fine adaptation.

**1/2