Beauty and the Beast is the best animated Disney film of all time, in my opinion. Growing up, it used to be The Lion King but as an adult, I discovered that Beauty and the Beast is a gem of a movie. It has enough for the kids without feeling childish, the songs are great, and the animation and cinematography is stunning. Also the voice acting is top notch. I love Gaston. He is my favorite character of the movie. He didn't start showing he was a villain until the end of the film but he is so full of himself and his lines are so funny, how can you not love Gaston? I mention the songs but my favorite is Be My Guest. Heck, I even parodied that song.
When I discovered there was a live-action remake coming out, I was curious. As beloved as this classic is, how will Disney now handle another version of this incredible movie? Well, now that I saw it, I can safely say.... pretty much shoot the same thing.
There are a few differences here and there most notably there are a couple more songs added to the movie (though Beast should never be singing) and I was a tad disappointed that they omitted the special edition song "Human Again." What? That was a great song! Also Disney corrected some nitpicks, as well, like how Belle got Beasy onto that horse back to the castle after the wolves attack. Also, in the Be My Guest song, he doesn't say "Ten years we've been rusting" as its now "Too long we've been rusting". There's also a scene added where Gaston leaves Belle's father to die in the forest. They make him an unlikable villain throughout in this version, and not as lovable as in the animated version.
However, it is faithful to the animated one. The sets closely resemble how I would imagine it to be if it were in the real world. It's still the same story of how Belle is imprisoned in an enchanted castle with a prince who was cursed to be a beast. The only way to break the spell is if some chick is stupid enough to fall in love with him, but because he's such a prick, it's hard to for a woman to fall in love with that person inside. He has this rose in the west wing that's like an hour glass. Once the last pedal falls on his 21st birthday, forget it. You're screwed.
I honestly still feel that Emma Watson isn't the best choice to play Belle (I would have chosen Amy Adams) but she does a good job even though I still see Hermione. Really the cast does a decent job, the songs are still good, and oh yeah expect a lot of gay overtones. I heard people say that it was little scene but it happens a lot. This makes me a little scared. I know I'm not being PC by saying gayness in movies scares me. It doesn't bother me but there is a thing of taking it too far in which this movie just seems to relish on that. Pretty soon our superhero movies will feature gay characters and Star Wars is already trying to embrace gay. My point is that its fine to be open about gays in movies, but there is such thing as over-exploiting it.
That's my take on it. I felt the production values are fine in this movie. The Beast didn't bother me too much but at times you can tell he was a CG render out of a video game. It nearly took me out of the experience. However, it's a good movie and if you love the animated one like I had, it won't hurt to see it. I prefer the animated one but I don't regret seeing the live-action remake.