Beauty and the Beast
The latest, and inevitable, addition to Disney’s catalogue of live-action remakes is Beauty and the Beast.
You know the tale by heart. Here, the filmmakers seek to update the classic by tweaking the characterisation and plot without completely damaging the mythology set by its predecessor. However, it is done at the expense of the quintessence of the film—the relationship between Belle and the Beast. Such efforts are arguably misplaced and make the film feels unnecessarily long. I find myself distracted at every turn, wondering why we are not spending more time with Belle and the Beast instead. It is almost as if they have completely taken their relationship for granted, unaware of the awkwardness that comes with a romance that may be a bit hard to swallow in flesh and blood.
Swaddled in lavish costumes and set designs, headliner Emma Watson can certainly look the part as Princess Belle. Otherwise, this casting feels uninspired and almost disingenuous. Neither her demeanor nor charisma resembles Belle. When you see her wandering around the village or the hollow ruins of the castle, you never for one second forget that you are watching Watson “acting” as Belle. Watson has certainly played heroines along the veins of Belle but one sure does hope that is not the reason she was cast. Personally, Watson’s Belle really “doesn’t quite fit in”.
The 2017 update of Beauty and the Beast is a live-action remake of an animated film but there is so much CGI you might as well have been watching an animated film. Yet, the effects in this film are so extensively and gracelessly done that they somehow feel oddly lifeless. The enchanted objects in the castle look eerie and unapproachable. The character design for the Beast looks foolishly cartoonish. Belle’s iconic yellow ball gown is woefully lacklustre.
Essentially, what the filmmakers fail to acknowledge here is that animation and live-action films are two completely different mediums, varying in their dimensions of storytelling freedom and constraints. This live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast unfortunately fails to translate the charm and warmth found in the original convincingly.
(Originally posted on 18 Mar 2017 @projectunwrapped)
