By Cynthia Ayala

“Disney’s animated classic takes on a new form, with a widened mythology and an all-star cast. A young prince, imprisoned in the form of a beast, can be freed only by true love. What may be his only opportunity arrives when he meets Belle, the only human girl to ever visit the castle since it was enchanted.”

—IMDB

A magical live action remake of the classic tale following Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as the cursed prince. Needless to say—but it has to be said—this film had exceptional casting. Emma Watson has become an exceptional actress, taking on the part of Belle and molding her into something new. She was able to capture the essence of Belle from the original, the stubborn opinionated girl with dreams as vast as the eye could see. And her performance was breathtakingly amazing. She is Belle, there is no question about it. Then there is Luke Evans. God, what a wonderful Gaston he made. Much like Watson, he was the perfect person to take on this role, to sing the songs, the be the perfect narcissist.

But as perfect as they were in this film, Josh Gad was probably the one that was straight out of the Disney film. My god was he perfect. The way he delivered his lines with perfection, sung his songs with perfection, was amazing in every way.

Now, perfect acting aside, the one thing that really makes this film stand apart from the Disney original. Many of the music numbers are the same, but the story adds elements that weren’t there before. There is more depth to who the characters are, who they came from and how they became the people they were. The film answers questions and addresses many issues that were raised from the original film, tying the film into a neat little bow. The writers knew what they were doing when they decided to make this live action remake so that the film was not just an exact copy of the original. They made it stand apart from the original and did justice to the original without tarnishing the original film.

All in all, this was a magical film to watch and is truly a breathtaking film to watch. (★★★★ | A+)

—Film Credits—

Directed by Bill Condon

Screenplay by Stephen Chbosky & Evan Spiliotopoulos

Based on Disney’s Beauty and the Beast & La Belle et la Bête by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont

Starring: Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Kevin Kline, Josh Gad, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Audra McDonald, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Ian McKellen & Emma Thompson

Rating | Length | Genre: PG | 2h 9min | Family, Fantasy, Musical

Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures