• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Beauty and the Beast (2017) reviews are here

Status
Not open for further replies.
It was okay for me. Watson is actually not that bad and does better in the sad scenes. I like the Beast the most in the film just like in the animated version. Unfortunately I feel the staff of the palace feels a bit muted/not as charming as the original animation.

The songs feel mixed-bag to me. I don't actually mind "Belle" even if it sounds a bit auto-tuned. I actually didn't like "Gaston" that much but "Be Our Guest" and "Kill the Beast" were fantastically produced. I do feel that "Be Our Guest" wasn't as colorful as the animation and the set feels too dark.
I was more concerned / touched re: the fate of the staff than I ever felt about the beast haha :)
 
Song ranking time:

10. Aria.
9. How Does a Moment Last Forever.
8. Days in the Sun.
7. Be Our Guest.
6. Evermore.
5. Beauty and the Beast.
4. Something There.
3. Gaston.
2. The Mob Song.
1. Belle / Belle Reprise.
 

AlphaDump

Gold Member
I thought the IMAX 3D, while "fake" looking, was really stunning at the same time. Strangely, that shot where it pans at the ceiling of Belle's bedroom did not seem to have the right focus.

I noticed that too. I didn't see it in IMAX though.

overall i thought it was very well done. The filming and direction were top notch. The first maybe 20 minutes were the weakest part, and it got increasingly better as the movie went on.
 
After seeing La La Land the live action musical numbers, especially the new ones, feel ho-hum and uninspired. Mostly because of the direction.
 

taoofjord

Member
Just saw it. The original is my favorite movie Disney has made so I was expecting to be really critical of this. Instead, I fucking loved it and have no idea why the reception is so mixed. It's a masterpiece in my eyes and can live alongside the animated movie just fine.

Super weird how Frozen and Zootopia blew up on GAF yet this movie only has a 10 page thread (I love those movies too).
 
Just saw it. The original is my favorite movie Disney has made so I was expecting to be really critical of this. Instead, I fucking loved it and have no idea why the reception is so mixed. It's a masterpiece in my eyes and can live alongside the animated movie just fine.
Sometimes affection for a film can make a good remake into a masterpiece. Sometimes it can make a good remake reviled. For me it was a good remake, but not the classic that the original was (due to not nailing Belle and Beast, and clunky editing).
 
Super weird how Frozen and Zootopia blew up on GAF yet this movie only has a 10 page thread (I love those movies too).
Frozen offered new takes on the princess / true love saves all concept, while Zootopia offered an interesting take on race relations. The right movie to compare BatB to would be something like The Jungle Book remake.
 

Matt_

World's #1 One Direction Fan: Everyone else in the room can see it, everyone else but you~~~
Saw it and loved it
My biggest critique would be I didn't like Belle's dad's acting and that subplot felt a little flat because of it
 

Pizza

Member
FWIW beauty and the beast was fucking rad. It's nothing groundbreaking, but unless you're absolutely stuck on hand drawn animation it's an objectively better telling of the story imo

They addressed common critiques of the old one regularly and in a way that I felt like was satisfying:
who is chip's mom "FOR REAL," how did everyone forget about the beast, where is belle's mother, who is the cup's dad, the feeling that the furniture was wrongfully cursed, making beast's actions nurture+nature instead of belle "changing" him, I also liked that the furniture realized they don't need to set the two of them up. Also gaston was great

I like these remakes as a way of updating these old stories. As opposed to other remakes, I feel like these remakes are adding to the in meaningful ways even if they're sometimes 1:1 remakes, the devil is in the details. I wouldn't tell someone to run out and see this film because it's groundbreaking, but I'd recommend trying it out next time you feel like seeing it. Also I loved the diversity with the cast
 
Inoffensive and pointless film where the entire cast seemed to be thinking of their paychecks.

Beast looked kind of awful.

Emma Watson didn't have an ounce of liberty with her personality in this film.

Can't imagine someone without attachment to the original finding much here.

Bleh.
Basically my thoughts exactly. Almost everything about this movie just felt like it was moving through the motions, and X only happened because it happened in the cartoon.

I actually sort of laughed when beast was all like UGH Romeo and Juliette is just so BLEH.. because I was like " oh yeah well that's sort of exactly how I feel about what I'm watching.
 

Pagusas

Elden Member
After seeing La La Land the live action musical numbers, especially the new ones, feel ho-hum and uninspired. Mostly because of the direction.

La La Land was a supreme disappointment to me, and Beauty and the Beast felt like a breath of fresh air.
 

Zalman

Member
I just watched it. I thought it was alright. I didn't care for the extra fluff they added in the middle of the film. It made it a little longer than I would've liked. Other than that it was enjoyable.
 

BunnyBear

Member
La La Land was a supreme disappointment to me, and Beauty and the Beast felt like a breath of fresh air.

Good lord, how can someone be so wrong.

I saw this yesterday and enjoyed it mostly. As someone said, Kevin Kline's performance as Muarice was not great, though Emma fared better than I thought she would. I also did notice the very blurry panning scenes, which annoyed me, and I thought the romance between Belle and Beast was a bit rushed, but the scenery and set design was really well done.

Loved the scene when she runs atop the hill and it pans around her.

A good, not great movie.
 

HardRojo

Member
Found no OT. Just watched it, wanted it to stop halfway through it, should've watched Life. It didn't help that apparently the sound mixing was weird with the central channel since the voices kept getting drowned by the background music.
 

EBE

Member
Didn't care for this movie. Songs weren't anything great, direction was pretty standard, and Watson was just kinda 'there'

Movie felt really long, too. It was okay I guess. Enjoyed Cinderella and Into the Woods more.
 
Found no OT. Just watched it, wanted it to stop halfway through it, should've watched Life. It didn't help that apparently the sound mixing was weird with the central channel since the voices kept getting drowned by the background music.

I noticed that too. Some of the iconic lines (during Gaston's bar song) were inaudible. Luckily I know all the words by heart.

Movie was ok. Didn't really move the needle for me either way.

I scored after the movie, though
 

The Lamp

Member
Didn't care for this movie. Songs weren't anything great, direction was pretty standard, and Watson was just kinda 'there'

Movie felt really long, too. It was okay I guess. Enjoyed Cinderella and Into the Woods more.

Agreed. This was boring and Emma was not impressive.
 
He looked surprisingly terrible. Like they were purposefully going for that effect of him being a big cartoon.
Terrible is too strong a word for this. If terrible is what you use to describe this, then you'll be lacking descriptors when some truly lacking comes around. :)
 

Tyaren

Member
Finally watched it. It was alright. I don't really have high expectations for these Disney remakes. They'll never reach classics status like the original movies (they are not meant to anyway), but to watch them once or twice they are quite entertaining.
Apart from the pretty bad use of auto-tune in Belle's and Beast's songs, I really liked the musical numbers. Some very nice new ones were in there too.

Has anybody watched the Franco-German 2014 Beauty and the Beast production? It's no musical, but in every other regard the Disney version pales in comparison. An absolutely gorgeous film. The art direction is one of the most beautiful and lavish I've ever seen.

bvlldidcqaaoqo5.jpg


Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtvoFZH2yZ4
 

JB1981

Member
I felt Disney missed a real opportunity to modernize and update Belle's fate as a character. She is an independent thinker, intellectually curious, dreams of seeing the world and growing beyond her small town upbringing. Her fate should not be as a woman wedded to a prince in a castle with servants and shit. She should be exploring the world, learning and teaching, not locked up in a castle like some housewife from the 50s dancing in formal attire and attending galas. I actually find the whole romantic plot to be fairly problematic and kind of outdated.

They should have left the castle as a kind of monument to the town and Belle should have traveled to Paris with the Beast to begin her life.

The beasts new solo was very good. Really enjoyed it
 

The Lamp

Member
Finally watched it. It was alright. I don't really have high expectations for these Disney remakes. They'll never reach classics status like the original movies (they are not meant to anyway), but to watch them once or twice they are quite entertaining.
Apart from the pretty bad use of auto-tune in Belle's and Beast's songs, I really liked the musical numbers. Some very nice new ones were in there too.

Has anybody watched the Franco-German 2014 Beauty and the Beast production? It's no musical, but in every other regard the Disney version pales in comparison. An absolutely gorgeous film. The art direction is one of the most beautiful and lavish I've ever seen.

bvlldidcqaaoqo5.jpg


Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtvoFZH2yZ4

How can I watch this with English subtitles?
 

spelen

Member
After seeing La La Land the live action musical numbers, especially the new ones, feel ho-hum and uninspired. Mostly because of the direction.

ooh my literally came to post the exact same comment man. la la land ruined my chances of enjoying this movie. this was all made worse by then ending of the movie litrally being everything la la land was fighting against...
 

Wanderer5

Member
So finally saw this, and overall, I enjoyed much of this, through it stumbles in some aspects. Emma Watson was eh, but she had some good moments and the rest of the cast were generally great. The set pieces and costume designs were quite lovely, through the west wing being brightly lit bugged the crap out of me lol, least in earlier scenes.

I mostly indifferent regarding added on stuff with this version (did like some additons to the curse, like people forgetting that place), but I felt the movie might had gone a bit too long. There were also quite a few moments that had some wonky direction and editing, some of which frustrated me.

Still, happy to finally see and enjoy quite a bit of it. I LOVE the animated film and stage musical, so I was going to see this sooner or later.
 
Finally watched it. It was alright. I don't really have high expectations for these Disney remakes. They'll never reach classics status like the original movies (they are not meant to anyway), but to watch them once or twice they are quite entertaining.
Apart from the pretty bad use of auto-tune in Belle's and Beast's songs, I really liked the musical numbers. Some very nice new ones were in there too.

Has anybody watched the Franco-German 2014 Beauty and the Beast production? It's no musical, but in every other regard the Disney version pales in comparison. An absolutely gorgeous film. The art direction is one of the most beautiful and lavish I've ever seen.

bvlldidcqaaoqo5.jpg


Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtvoFZH2yZ4
Reviews say otherwise.

This looks more jank to me than the Disney live-action, but its probably because the gothic dark fantasy art is so tired at this point
 
I just saw the new Jungle Book, and I thought it was as awful as Through the Looking Glass. Is this more of the same ilk? All subtlety lost in favor of mass consumption?
 
I just saw the new Jungle Book, and I thought it was as awful as Through the Looking Glass. Is this more of the same ilk? All subtlety lost in favor of mass consumption?
I honestly can't understand anyone who would prefer the animated version of the jungle book over the live action remake. As a child I was bored by the animated version, and I rewatched it recently after seeing the new one and yup, still not very fun to watch. The new one on the other hand I thought was great.
 
I just got out of this and I actually really liked it. Emma Watson is beautiful. The movie was shot really well and overall I think they nailed a live action remake.
 
Saw it. I liked it. Not nearly as much as the animated version though. The songs didn't really come close for me.

Watson did a solid job but I just never really feel the emotions from her. She usually just feels Ike she's going through the motions. As she gets older I think shell get a lot better though.
 
I.

AM.

IN.


SHOCK!!!

I just got back, and HOLY MOLY! I had high hopes for this, and the movie managed to surpass my very huge expectations! I thought literally everything worked and that they couldn't have done a better job adapting this. I honestly can't find one negative thing about it. I couldn't wipe the grin off my face the whole way through! I THOUGHT IT WAS PERFECT! Just....wow! Movie magic!

10/10

CtoQ5vC.jpg


And yes, I actually think it's even better than the animated movie - which I also love. (who doesn't?!)

Me too man, me too. I went in expecting bad things because there were so many negative impressions online. I was absolutely stunned and was grinning while watching it the whole time. This is yet another example of the internet echo chamber and rampant pessimism at play. I didn't say anything about the negativity to my wife because Beauty and the Beast is probably her 2nd favorite movie of all time and I didn't want to color her impressions. She was just as impressed as me.
 

mm04

Member
Watched it last night in a full theater, jeez how much is this movie going to make, with my family and we all enjoyed it. I haven't watched the original in many years, save for popping the blu-ray in and watching Gaston's song a few times, so I didn't remember every detail and maybe that played a part in my overall enjoyment. Anyway, I thought it was a worthy live action remake. It will definitely make it into my 3D Blu-ray collection if they release one.
 
Saw it. I liked it. Not nearly as much as the animated version though. The songs didn't really come close for me.

Watson did a solid job but I just never really feel the emotions from her. She usually just feels Ike she's going through the motions. As she gets older I think shell get a lot better though.

I agree for some scenes but she did good. I realized she is perfect though.
 
Me too man, me too. I went in expecting bad things because there were so many negative impressions online. I was absolutely stunned and was grinning while watching it the whole time. This is yet another example of the internet echo chamber and rampant pessimism at play. I didn't say anything about the negativity to my wife because Beauty and the Beast is probably her 2nd favorite movie of all time and I didn't want to color her impressions. She was just as impressed as me.

Awesome! Glad to hear it.

I feel as if the general audience likes the movie quite a lot. When it comes to the critics, I'm just ignoring them to be honest. I mean it's currently at 71% on Rottten Tomatoes, which is solid, but I feel like it should be way higher.

I guess expectations were sky high. It is being compared to one of the most loved animated movies of all time after all. It's being judged pretty harshly.

A complaint I keep reading with the critics is that they don't know why the movie exists, which is just nonsense to me when we have another Spider Man movie coming out and like a billion superhero movies each year.
 
Awesome! Glad to hear it.

I feel as if the general audience likes the movie quite a lot. When it comes to the critics, I'm just ignoring them to be honest. I mean it's currently at 71% on Rottten Tomatoes, which is solid, but I feel like it should be way higher.

I guess expectations were sky high. It is being compared to one of the most loved animated movies of all time after all. It's being judged pretty harshly.

A complaint I keep reading with the critics is that they don't know why the movie exists, which is just nonsense to me when we have another Spider Man movie coming out and like a billion superhero movies each year.

Well, one is basically an exact remake of an old cartoon but with real people, and the other(s) are new adventures featuring heroes people like, and there's really only like 10 or so superhero movies each year, out of 52 weeks? That's not that bad.
 

Linkark07

Banned
Saw it today. Surprisingly, I loved it; never expected it to be honest. The movie is quite beautiful, and the songs were great too. One of my favorite remakes.
 
There were aspects of this movie I love and aspects of the original I preferred. I would like to take parts of each and combine them into my ideal version. Overall, the story was better in this movie, the personality of the beast was better, and the new songs were great. That being said, I prefer the original Belle, most of the original versions of the songs, and the energy the animation gave was better. The auto tune in this movie is atrocious and I don't usually notice that sort of thing.

I liked the movie quite a bit in the end. I'll watch it again down the line.
 
Well, one is basically an exact remake of an old cartoon but with real people, and the other(s) are new adventures featuring heroes people like, and there's really only like 10 or so superhero movies each year, out of 52 weeks? That's not that bad.

I guess so.

It still doesn't change the fact that most super hero movies feel pretty much alike - especially Spider Man. I mean how many do we need?!
 

duckroll

Member
FINALLY got to see this! OMG! I really enjoyed it. They nailed a lot of what I loved about the cartoon. Emma Watson really works as Belle for any scene.... except... when she has to sing. Hahahahaha. It's unfortunate, but the autotune probably did help. >_<

But can we talk about Luke Evans? HOLY SHIT THE GUY IS LITERALLY GASTON. His performance was so good it carried the entire movie imo. He could sing, he could dance, he looked huge, and the costumes just fit so well. Fuuuuuuuuuuuck. The entire mob scene at the end was literal chills.

The new songs were kinda whatever, I felt Days in the Sun could have worked better with a bit more effort, but I actually liked Evermore quite a bit. We don't have many moments with the Beast reflecting on stuff and this added to it in a good way.

I thought Something There was probably the best musical moment in the film, while the mob scene and song piece was the most cinematic by far. They didn't ruin the ballroom scene though, so there's that. Better CG than the original too!!!! (lololol) :D

I dunno how I feel about Dan Stevens as the Beast. Sometimes he was serviceable, sometimes he was really good with the reactions. Maybe the CG was just inconsistent? Not sure. I would have liked the production to have more physical sets though. I could tell a lot of it was virtual extensions and CG which stood out as less lavish and more painted on. In contrast the costumes all worked so well it was beautiful. Wish that extended to all the environments.

I might watch this again soon!
 

Tyaren

Member
Reviews say otherwise.

This looks more jank to me than the Disney live-action, but its probably because the gothic dark fantasy art is so tired at this point

Maybe you should watch it and judge for yourself. It's definitely not more "janky" than the Disney remake.
 

DOWN

Banned
I thought Emma was miscast before this came out, and still was hesitant for the first 20 minutes, but once they got her to the castle I was convinced. She ended up being the best of the cast and god that ballroom scene was gorgeous.
 

duckroll

Member
I thought Emma was miscast before this came out, and still was hesitant for the first 20 minutes, but once they got her to the castle I was convinced. She ended up being the best of the cast and god that ballroom scene was gorgeous.

She's very good in the role when she stopped having to sing. Hahaha. :(

<3 Emma.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom