From being hyped as a daring change and re-creation of the animated original Beauty and The Beast was nowhere near the exciting masterpiece hailed by many. Here are few reasons why it was such a boring product from the House of Mouse.
1. LeFou is Le Forgettable
Let’s get this one out of the way first: the biggest “risk” that Disney was supposed to take with this character is that he wold be gay and would be romantically interested in Gaston. But, he was relegated to stereotyped sidekick and henchman rather than his own man.
There was more than one chance for this character to have been taken from marketing scheme and #HashTagBait, but, we never got to see it, and that is the main problem with the abusive, narcissitc Gaston and free thinking, pining for wanna be hero, LeFou.
We were teased a couple of times that Josh Gad’s take on the character would be a moral and conscientious foil to Luke Evan’s Gaston. What we get, however, is a one-dimensional caricature of a person, that seems to have been put into the film for marketing and baiting in a particular demographic, a misfired romp into edginess and relevancy that fell flat on its face.
2. Belle is a no Beauty
Before all of you Emma Watson fans come for my head, I know that Miss Watson is an attractive woman and terrific actress, however, Bell comes off as an arrogant, lazy, young woman who seems that all others are beneath her. Although there are scenes that try to place Belle into the role as some sort of village progressive feminist, the indifferent, cold- towards-others portrayal does not give the audience a chance to build up any sympathy for the character before her imprisonment by The Beast. Bell in the original cartoon had a bubbly, sweet personality that balanced out her status in the film, however, this Belle is pastiche of personalities, it’s hard to know which Belle is being rung.
3. Backstory A Go-Go
Although intended to bring a sense of empathy for all of the characters, the starts and stops for all of the back stories of the characters create uneven breaks in the flow of the plotline throughout the film. With a constant need for exposition and fill-in-the-blanks, the film could have done with more brightness and fun rather than background info on the characters. Some of it was good, but mostly it came off as plodding and uneeded. By the way, if you don’t see the Agatha curveball by mid film, you need a longer nap.
4. Are we sure this is a Disney film?
Since Zach Snyder’s romp with the DC universe an almost universal complaint, especially by those in the Marvel/Disney/Star Wars camp, show washed out and dull the colors of the WB hero films seem to be. However, with Beauty and The Beast, director Bill Condon’s take on colors seem to be flat and muddled as well. Even seeing this film in 3D could not alleviate the flatness brought on by a palette that seemed to be safe rather than fun.
5. Enchanted, Yet Stiff
From the candelabra to Mrs. Pott’s the teapot, to the Beast, in the 1991 original animated film all of the characters were alive and fun. HOwver, with this remake, trying too hard to add “realism” to a fantasy musical, a lot of the charm and fun from the original has been lost. Also, on the other side of the coin, the Beast at times looked too cartoonish. Possibly softened to not be so scary, the redemptive tale of the Beast was lessened by the softness of the animation used several times throughout the film. At times the animators seemed to forget the difference between nobility and beauty, and our living furniture and main protagonist were worse off for it.
Bottom Line
Although hailed and celebrated by most fans and critics, here is so much withthis film that could have been much better, and with the cast and movie tech available, it’s a shame that the production crew could not see that as well.
THREE OUT OF FIVE ENCHANTED BUNNY HOPS