7.5/10 The problem with 2015’s live action Cinderella remake was that it was just a “copy and paste” of the original animated film. They translated it to live action without adding anything to it. That to me is a fairly lazy cash grab on Disney’s part. What I really enjoyed about this film is that they didn’t repeat that mistake. They took the original animated film and really added a lot to it. Expanded on some of the story and best of all, added some new songs, one of which (Evermore) is one of the strongest in the film. I may be slightly biased being a big fan of musicals but when the opening musical number started it just really made me happy and feel good. Not a lot of films are able to put you into a certain mindset like musicals can and this did a solid job of getting me to my own little happy place. The visuals looked great and I was especially impressed by the Beast himself. The production design and set decoration was creative and lavish. There is a lot to like in this film that made it very enjoyable to watch. It isn’t without its flaws though. The voice cast was pretty questionable. I love Ian McKellen but not only did he sound nothing like his character from the original animated film but it also just kept reminding me of Gandalf. Emma Thompson (who is a great actress) as Ms. Potts sounded like Helena Bonham Carter when she sang and couldn’t come close to the great Angela Lansbury. Stanley Tucci has just become so over the top with his performances as of late (his Hunger Games character comes to mind) that he is giving Johnny Depp a run for his money. Josh Gadd is playing the same role as the last five movies he was in as well. I also thought that Be Our Guest was done much better in the original animated film visually. This one became too fanatical and just became an over the top orgy of colors with no real cohesion. I love that song but its presentation was weak for me. Overall this falls slightly below last year’s The Jungle Book but way above Cinderella so I am still excited for the next slew of live action Disney remakes. Check this movie out and relive the fun nostalgia.
#TheBeastWing / #LegalizeMsPotts / #ToBelleAndBackAgain / #JoshGLAAD / #SomePeopleCallMeMaurice / #HairyTale
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