A review on the new live-action “Beauty and the Beast “

Photo+courtesy+of+flickr+via+Google+images+labeled+for+reuse+with+modification+

Photo courtesy of flickr via Google images labeled for reuse with modification

Disney’s new live-action version of Beauty and the Beast brought back familiar songs but added elements to give background to the beloved characters. The film stars Emma Watson and Dan Stevens as the beauty and the beast and was directed by Bill Condon, the same icon who directed Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1. It opened Friday March 17, 2017 and it is already clear that the the movie is a sensation. Beauty and the Beast brought in a whopping 170 million dollars in its debut opening weekend, according to variety.com.

Like the 1991 cartoon, the film goes through the story of a young girl Belle, living in a small village in France. Her normal life changes whens she must take the place of her father as a prisoner to a Beast in a magic castle. Despite their circumstances, the pair develops a relationship throughout the film that is deeper than expected. Meanwhile, a spell is over the castle that imprisons the Beast, a former prince, and his servants. This curse can only be broken if the Beast can get someone to fall in love with him.  

Senior Lauren Murray went to see the film opening day. She feels that the movie is visually appealing and that the special effects,  “went above expectations.” She thinks that the back-stories may have been interesting, but that they really were not essential to the film. Overall, Murray recommends the film and says, “At first I was concerned that Emma Watson wasn’t going to live up to Belle, but I think all of them were stellar in their roles.”   

Sophomore Kriti Bhattarai, thoroughly enjoys this take on Beauty and the Beast, she felt that the film followed the original storyline well but adds “extra moments to modernize it,” She felt the costumes and casting were superb but that the “storyline with his [the beast’s] mom could have [been expanded on]”

Even the New York Times esteems this film as living up to its expectations. A.O. Scott, a writer for the New York Times, he reviews the movie as, “Its classicism feels unforced and fresh. Its romance neither winks nor panders. It looks good, moves gracefully and leaves a clean and invigorating aftertaste. I almost didn’t recognize the flavor: I think the name for it is joy.”

In a tale that is truly old as time, it is true as it can be, that a pair that was barely even friends changed when someone bent unexpectedly. This rendition of a classic tale includes beautiful visual effects, spot-on casting, and songs that views hum on their way out of the theater.