“Can forever spare a minute?”
Growing up, whenever I would go to friend’s houses who had little sisters there was always something they all had in common. That familiar bubble case to every Disney movie that seemed to exist. If you don’t know what I’m referring to, then either I’m too old, or you’re too young. Either way one thing is for sure, every kid for the last who knows how many years, have grown up on Disney animated movies. Now it seems the current generation gets to grow up on the live action ones.
Following classics like “Cinderella” and “The Jungle Book”, Disney is set to release one of its most classic movies again. “Beauty and the Beast” is the latest to get the live action treatment, and alive it truly is. Belle (Emma Watson) is just a misunderstood girl in her village. She does crazy things like read and not wanting to be like every other woman in the village. Not only that, she also shuns the attention of the town’s most eligible bachelor Gaston (Luke Evens), who has eyes only for her. When Belle’s father Maurice (Kevin Kline) goes missing, she finds him at a mysterious castle that most have forgotten. Inside lives a beast (Dan Stevens), who has imprisoned Maurice for stealing from him. Belle trades herself for her father and soon learns that there is more to this beast then meets the eye.
When I first heard that they were remaking this film I thought maybe Disney finally had too many hits in the head by the snake. Why would you remake a modern day classic, I mean wasn’t it pretty much perfect already? Well, I as wrong, because it turns out you can improve on perfection. This film is utterly magical in every sense, and from the very beginning you start to forget that old VHS copy and live in the moment. Forgetting the fist animated film to be ever nominated for an Academy Award is a tough task, but that is what happens here in more ways than one. Behind the direction of Bill Condon (Dreamgirls) the household furniture isn’t the only thing that comes alive.
From the fantastic opening number, to the credits that will make you smile, Condon’s fingerprints are very apparent. Condon is not the star of the show though, that attention belongs to Belle herself. Watson, who has one pop culture character under her belt already in Hermione Granger, makes Belle hers, flawlessly. Everything about her feels right and if there was any doubt, once she adorns the famous yellow dress, it is gone. Never a huge fan of the original, because well I wasn’t a girl, this film won me over from the get go and reminded me of a grand classic movie, you know the ones they don’t make anymore. Not always the fan of a remake, Disney is proving me wrong with each one of these classic animated films turned real. While “Cinderella” and “The Jungle Book” were both very good, with “Beauty and the Beast” Disney has found perfection. So as the film so merrily sings, “be their guest, be their guest”, to a new classic that will be sitting on the shelves of little girls (minus the bubble case)for years to come.
