Beauty and the Beast (2017) [Blu-ray]
Family | Fantasy | Musical | Romance

Tagline: Experience the tale as old as time.

Disney's animated classic takes on a new form, with a widened mythology and an all-star cast. A young prince, imprisoned in the form of a beast, can be freed only by true love. What may be his only opportunity arrives when he meets Belle, the only human girl to ever visit the castle since it was enchanted.

Storyline: Disney's animated classic takes on a new form, with a widened mythology and an all-star cast. A young prince, imprisoned in the form of a beast, can be freed only by true love. What may be his only opportunity arrives when he meets Belle, the only human girl to ever visit the castle since it was enchanted.

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, June 4, 2017 If there was any doubt that Disney is taking this animated-to-live-action trend seriously, there shouldn't be any now. With Beauty and the Beast, the studio has taken what many (this reviewer included) believe to be its animated masterpiece and transitioned it to live-action with, of course, no shortage of seamless digital aid. Unlike Maleficent, which retold the story of Sleeping Beauty from a different perspective, or Cinderella, which, while sharing some similarities with the animated version, offered a different enough take on the classic story to become its own film, Beauty and the Beast takes the Jungle Book route, retelling the story with most all of the familiar arcs and refrains and characters and happenings from the animated film while mixing in some of its own creatively novel ideas to flesh out the story and extend the runtime. The result is a film that never quite finds its own identity, that cannot decide whether it's nearly a shot-for-shot and song-for-song recreation of the beloved 1991 film or something else entirely that expands on the story but dilutes that core Beauty and the Beast essence that made the original an unforgettable, treasured classic.

Belle (Emma Watson) happily lives in a small French village with her father Maurice (Kevin Kline), a tinkerer. Belle is something of an outcast amongst the villagers; she knows how, and loves, to read and has an independent streak about her. But that's not enough to deter Gaston (Luke Evans), the town's hunkiest bachelor who, even with the other available girls swooning over his every move, has his eye firmly fixed on the beautiful and practically unobtainable Belle. One day, Maurice leaves town for a day but only his horse returns the next. Belle quickly discovers that he's been taken prisoner by a reclusive and repulsive Beast (Dan Stevens) whose only company are living odds and ends from around the house. Belle takes her father's place as prisoner and begins to learn Beast's story of a curse that has befallen him and his house. He has only a finite amount of time before the curse becomes permanent, his only escape coming by way of true love in the arms of a woman who reciprocates the feeling.

The film is set in Rococoo-era France rather than a slightly more whimsical (but very similar) fairy tale world such as that of the animated version, which necessitates that certain characters and situations be altered to fit the time period. The movie feels a bit more rugged, the famous bookstore scene from early in the original animated film is significantly reduced in scope and flair, and the biggest gain of the change comes in the expanded opening sequence in which the prince becomes the Beast. These are not necessarily major changes and none that one might consider damaging to the story, but they're part of a larger flaw which results in, as noted earlier, the picture struggling with identity, playing it so closely to the vest, at times, to remain faithful to the animated film while at others expanding to explore the greater world around the story. While a few of the film's additions – Belle's mother's fate and an exploration of the Beast's selfishness, for instance – do logically expand on the story (not necessarily as needed but certainly in a flattering, accentuating way), the result is a movie that occasionally feels cluttered and overlong compared to the masterfully timed and precisely assembled animated classic.

The film's visual robustness is a blessing and a curse. Gone are the more simplistic, and frankly believable, charms of the animated film. The servant characters are clearly the largest struggle for this movie, appearing so anatomically correct and painstakingly complex and lifelike -- as lifelike as talking and singing clocks, candles, wardrobes, china, etc. can be -- that the characters lose much of that whimsical silliness and effortless tenderness that made them so adorable in the animated film. But it is live action, and with modern digital effects and without going the "invisible servant" route of the Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve book on which the animated film is based, this is the inevitable end result, a hallmark for visual effects to be sure but at the expense of the characters' simple vitality and appeal. The movie does look resplendent from the top-down. Sets and costumes sparkle (even if there's some debate over how faithful they appear to the animated film, another point of contention in the saga of whether the movie is following standard or forging its own path). Sets are marvelously detailed and expansive outdoor locations are beautiful. Acting is quite good, too. Emma Watson may not necessarily look like Belle, but she captures the character's core spirit and the narrative journey from fear to antagonism to acceptance to love for the Beast quite well. Dan Stevens portrays Beast well, particularly vocally, though, again, there's room for legitimate complaint about how the Beast looks compared to its animated counterpart. The highlight of the film is unquestionably Luke Evans as the self-centered Gaston, capturing, with uncanny precision, the physical demeanor and verbal cadence fans expect of the character.

Beauty and the Beast exemplifies the risks and rewards of these films. Comparison to the established treasures is unavoidable, and in the case of Beauty and the Beast the magnification seems extended. While the film gets plenty right, parts of it feel off-balance, whether some of the needless (but certainly interesting) probing into some of the background elements or the manner in which the various servants, never mind the Beast himself, appear and participate in the film. The complex digital work just doesn't lend itself all that well to the animated version's simplistic charms and ability to draw the viewer into a fantastical realm of fairy tale make-believe. If anything this version feels too real, and that comes at the cost of the story's depth and whimsical spirit. It's also too unfocused, trying at once to satisfy purists, expand the story, and dazzle with its visual effects to the point that the end result is more spectacle and less heartfelt love story; the animated film balanced those qualities perfectly. It's a good movie in all of those areas, but it's the first of the live-action Disney films where the animated films remains the clear-cut superior. The Blu-ray is unsurprisingly terrific, featuring world-class 1080p video and 7.1-channel lossless audio. Supplements are fine though nothing remarkable. Recommended.

[CSW] -3.4- "A Tale as old as time/A Song as old as rhyme/Beauty and the beast." I can't believe I'm saying this, but I liked this version better than the original. Just as in the animated version, the "objectified" versions of the castle residents were more fun than the human versions - Lumiere was fantastic. The basic story has not changed, but the backstories of Maurice (Belle's father) and the Prince/Beast have been fleshed out a bit...both of which add depth to an already great story. Some songs were new, the battle scene was far more fun than in the original movie, and most of the changes to the story were for the better. It might be worth adding the 3D version to my library.
[V5.0-A5.0] MPEG-4 AVC - D-Box - I had to toned down the HEMC settings a little with Motion: -7db and Vibration: - 2db.


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