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)
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!