Missing the entire opening scene, because as always I am so
late into getting inside the cinema. A friend did say that it was just a
narrative the same as the animated series. Since I watched that before watching
this, I guess I am confident enough to say I did not miss anything that great.
It was a very nice movie, that by the end of it, I was
clapping loudly and wanted to pair it with a standing ovation, but I held back to
respect the people sitting behind me.
The plot is the same as the animated one with some minor
changes here and there.
Let’s start with what I did not like since I can count them
in one hand.
First, some scenes were
so obviously in 3D it’s just a blur. It has a start and end points that you can
see, then just become glassy in the middle and I was wearing glasses so it is
not an eye problem. Second, I am not
sure if I missed it but there was no Human
Again song in the movie, and I quite liked that song. Third, there were some scenes that were very dark and cannot be
really scene clearly, and I think some of those dark scenes on-screen were not
in 3D and not the Beast’s brooding aura as well. Fourth, some of Emma Watson’s facial expressions does not quite fit
the emotion she is portraying but I can forgive that. I think I just have
problems with her and it has nothing to do with the movie. :D (I am so screwed, sorry friends. I’m a fan
too :D)
Now for the goods. I think I’ll do a character evaluation
and make it flow with the story.
The music for this movie is so great and since
its Alan Menken, we know we can
always expect the best.
The story started with Belle who is not a snob, not in a
long shot but she has an air about her that screamed ‘I am too good, for this
town. When can I leave it all behind?’. She lived with her father, Maurice, who
is not as kooky as he was in the animated series but is still an oddity, an
outsider artisan. She is being courted by the best character portrayal in town,
Luke Evans as Gaston, who is clearly
a beautiful person and deserves to be married to the second eye-candy in town
right after himself. Captain Gaston is home from the war and is suffering from PTSD, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,
which explains his bursts in rage among other things. And did I mention, he is narcissistic
to the bone. Hanging to Gaston’s sleeves is LeFou whose heroic worship was turned into unrequited love. He will
do anything for Gaston, and that includes paying off everybody so that they
will participate in the Gaston song. That song was one of the best scenes ever
and it was a replicate of the animated one and showed us exactly how great actors
Josh Gad and Luke Evans that they
can transform a well-loved scene from a cartoon to a movie without the added
help of animation.
And now to the wolves, I meant castle.
Lumiere is played
by Obi-wan Kenobi. This is one of those character portrayal that is more
popularly than the lead and is shrouded in controversy because Ewan McGregor is not one though he
married one. But it was great character and I loved every moment that he was
on-screen. Cogsworth is played by Sir Ian McKellen and I actually forgot
that it was him and was thinking the entire time he appears that this voice is
very very familiar and I could not quite place where I heard it before. It was Gandalf all along, no wonder he did
not have any singing scenes, only singsong ones. Mrs. Potts and Chip, were portrayed as they were including that
heartfelt rendition of Tale as As Old
Time, I meant, Beauty and the Beast.
Though they did not made Chip a stowaway and made him attack the cellar to
free Belle and her father, it was overall a nice performance. The rest of the castle
folks were as they were, since they rarely appeared on screen, I cannot really
say a lot about them. And as I have forgotten, and was typing the line before I remembered,
I did not wrote anything about the Beast.
The Beast was portrayed not as dark as he was in the animated one actually. This
is one beast that you can actually fall in love in, not that you know
beforehand that a handsome animal is actually playing this character but
because of the nature he was presented. From a terrorizing person who is quick
to defend his own, a giving host that shares his books and jokes, a person who
understands you and made something clear a part of your childhood that your
father is shielding you from, and someone who let you go when he knows that
keeping you will only make you hate him forever. But I think it was the
Shakespeare’s quote that did me in. Haha!
My favorite part of the movie is the Be Our Guest song. When it was finished I was clapping in glee. It was
the highlight of the movie for me. Not the transformation of the Beast to the
Prince. Not the resurrection of forgotten persons to human beings again. But that
song, the song where they refused to let Belle eat the steak and only served
her a pudding afterwards.
It was also good that they gave us a background story on
Belle and the Beast. Like why Belle does not really fit in, because she was not
born in the village but was brought here by her father when her mother died. And
the Beast is not really mean-spirited, he was a young sweet boy whose cruel
father turned into a monster when his lovely mother died. This is why we can
now understand the changes in his feelings and attitudes, because he has always
have them but was just shadowed with the cruelty that he has to live with.
The emotions in this movie are also great, like the
desperation of Gaston to make Belle his and that he would do anything for it,
including locking up her father. LeFou’s blind devotion to the man he adores
that turned into betrayal because he was betrayed first. The anger of the villager
towards Belle when she tried to teach another girl to read. The jealousy
because she was a pretty lass. The confusion the villagers felt when they
entered the castle and it felt familiar. The acceptance the castle furniture
felt when they know they will be forever forgotten and started turning to
antiques. The joy when everything turned back to being humans, and family and lovers
reunited again, except for Cogsworth who actually prefers being to a clock than
being with his wife. The peace that followed.
I liked this movie, not only because it’s a childhood
classic but because it tried to balance itself in this changing times, i.e, the
depiction of gender and race equality. So we have men falling in love with men,
men coming out of the closet, women fighting for themselves, thinking for
themselves. Gender equality and women empowerment. The world’s most controversial files. I think accepting this role is
one way for Emma Watson to promote her HeForShe campaign as well as remind us
of her role as UN Women Goodwill Ambassadress. Also, there were lots of colored
French characters in this film, and yes it’s quite alright. Not only that it’s
historically true, it was a nice distribution of roles too. So many talented
people in one place, singing their hearts out.
I hope that was not as spoiled as it should be. But if you’ve
watched the animated classic, there’s really nothing left to spoil.
Photos from:
http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/827575-beauty-and-the-beast-roars#/slide/1
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