A French village, 18th century. Belle is a curious woman who loves to read books. When her father Maurice goes into the forest to pluck a rose for her as a present, he is arrested and sent to jail in a castle run by the Beast, a prince who was cursed by a witch who transformed him into a beast and his entire servants into anthropomorphic furniture, and who can only break the curse and turn back into a human if someone falls in love with him. Belle swaps places with her father, and stays in the castle. Despite initial hostility, Belle and the beast develop feelings for each other. When the villagers storm the castle to kill the Beast, former soldier and Belle's admirer Gaston shoots with his gun at the Beast. However, Gaston falls from the height of the tower, whereas Belle confesses she loves Beast, which breask the curse and transforms them back to human form.
It is an unwritten rule that in its remake-mania wherein Walt Disney Pictures' marketers aim to sell their own products twice, all the live-action movie adaptations are weaker than their original animated classics, with the only exception being as to how much. Luckily, Bill Condon's "Beauty and the Beast" isn't that far away from their famed '91 animated film, yet one can feel that the majority of the storyline and scenes feel artifical and predictable, lacking that genuine feel that would make all of this come to life. Emma Watson (Hermione from the "Harry Potter" film series) is a slightly wrong choice to play Belle, since she doesn't look nothing like Belle from said animated film, yet she gives a good performance and sings really well. The movie works the best when it tries to be its very own thing: some of the new jokes work (after meeting all the living furniture, Belle picks up a hairbrush and asks: "What's your name?", but Cogsworth laughs: "It's a hairbrush!"; LeFou singing until he stops because he has to spell: "And his name is G-A-S-T... I believe there's another T... It just occurred to me that I'm illiterate and I've never actually had to spell it out loud before.."). The ending even has a deliciously naughty joke said by Belle ("How would you feel about growing a beard?"). Conversely, it is the weakest when it is just a lame copy-paste of the original, very noticable in the almost identical musical sequences of "Be Our Guest" and "Beauty and the Beast" (during the dance sequence). Everything here is done right, there are no illogical or wrong moments, all this is neatly polished and perfect, and yet, one somehow feels that it lacks a soul, as if it is missing some 'raw' energy to come to life, which is why the viewers will only rewatch this movie in its '91 animated edition.
Grade:++
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