His resume, which includes penning the adapted screenplay for “ Chicago” and calling the shots behind the camera for “Dreamgirls” and the final two FX-propelled “Twilight” films, shows he knows his way around both musicals and special effects. That is not to say there isn’t much to admire, especially with director Bill Condon’s dedication to injecting the lushness and scope of tune-filled spectacles of yore into the world of IMAX 3-D. One can only describe the reaction on Watson’s face as she takes in this leather-bound orgy of reading material as a biblio-gasm. Such additions don’t hold a candelabra to tried and true sequences as when the Beast, in a wooing mood, reveals his vast library of books to Belle.
And, in an ineffectual attempt to embolden her feminist cred, Belle invents a primitive version of a washing machine. There are efforts by screenwriters by Stephen Chbosky (“ The Perks of Being a Wallflower”) and Evan Spiliotopoulos (“The Huntsman: Winter’s War”) to provide emotional links between Belle and her Beast involving their mutual absent mothers that don’t add much substance. Meanwhile, the enchanted household objects conspire to cause the odd couple to fall for each other and break the spell that allows both them and their master to return to human form again. The familiar basics of the plot are the same as Maurice, Belle’s father ( Kevin Kline, whose sharp skills as a farceur are barely employed), is imprisoned by the Beast inside his forbidding castle for plucking a rose from his garden and Belle eventually offers to take her papa’s place. This “Beauty” is too often beset by blockbuster bloat. But I couldn’t help but feel that the more-is-more philosophy that lurks behind many of these remakes weighs down not just the story but some key performances. Potts honors her sublime teapot predecessor Angela Lansbury by warmly warbling the title theme. It’s true that my heart once again went pitty-pat during the ballroom waltz as Emma Thompson voicing Mrs. Still, this is a much denser-and longer, by a considerable 45 minutes-confection, one that doesn’t always go down as easily as the less-adorned yet lighter-than-air angel food cake that was the original.
If your kids aren’t freaked out by Michael Keaton’s coy in-the-closet Ken doll in “ Toy Story 3,” they will be fine here-especially considering the central relationship in this PG-rated fantasy basically promotes bestiality. Also welcome is the more inclusive display of love in its various forms, which go beyond the sweetly awkward courtship between brainy, brave and independent-minded bookworm Belle ( Emma Watson, much cherished for her gutsy portrayal of Hermione Granger in the eight Harry Potter films) and the cursed prince in the ill-tempered guise of a ram-horned bison-faced creature ( Dan Stevens of “Downton Abbey,” whose sensitive blue eyes serve him well amid all his CGI faux-fur trappings).Īs for that “exclusively gay moment” you have been hearing about? It appears near the conclusion when LeFou, a comic-relief character brought to life by Josh Gad (the voice of Olaf the snowman in “ Frozen”) who clearly has an unrequited man-crush on his bulky and boorish buddy Gaston ( Luke Evans of “The Girl on the Train”), fleetingly dances with a male partner.
The bottom line: This gloriously old-fashioned musical with gee-whiz trappings is a dazzling beauty to behold (with enough Rococo gold decor to gild all of Trump’s properties) and is anything but a beastly re-interpretation of a fairy tale as old as time. It was therefore all but inevitable that a property as adored as 1991’s "Beauty and the Beast," the first animated film to not just compete in Oscar’s Best Picture category but also top the $100 million box-office mark, would receive a 21st-century makeover after “Cinderella” and “ The Jungle Book” followed the rousing $1 billion worldwide box-office reception for “Alice in Wonderland.”