Beauty and the Beast

Rating 7 out of 10

I have seen the Disney animated Beauty and the Beast atleast twenty times since it's release in 1991.  Can it really be twenty six years ago???  One of my all time favorite animated movies.  I was hooked on this one from the first preview.

I like the idea of a mostly live action version of this movie. I figured Disney would do it right.  For the most part they did.  Emma Watson was absolutely spot on as sweet Belle.  I was surprised that she sang as well as she did.  The story is mostly like the original but not completely.  They added atleast three new musical numbers and a few new twists to the story.

Anyone that saw my La La Land review knows I am not a big fan of musicals yet this is in my opinion how musicals are supposed to be.  There were probably three or four musical numbers too many for my taste yet still let the movie highly entertaining.  There are some scary parts early on where people are attacked by wolves but nothing most small ones can handle.

On the down side I didn't care for the actor the played the Beast (Dan Stevens) much at all.  Didn't really feel he had the singing chops to be in a movie like this.  Especially how well Emma sang.  The animation was mostly good.  There were a few times when the Beast looked like Emma was talking to a video game.  But overall it was above average.

I was entertained.  Doesn't make me want to throw away my dvd of the original but I was entertained.  It will make a bazillion dollars and kids will be singing the songs for years to come.