Beauty and the Beast (2017)
TOMATOMETER
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: With an enchanting cast, beautifully crafted songs, and a painterly eye for detail, Beauty and the Beast offers a faithful yet fresh retelling that honors its beloved source material.
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Cast
as Belle
as Beast/Prince
as Gaston
as Maurice
as Le Fou
as Lumiere
as Cadenza
as Plumette
as Garderobe
as Cogsworth
as Mrs. Potts
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Critic Reviews for Beauty and the Beast
All Critics (283) | Top Critics (48) | Fresh (199) | Rotten (84)
The sheer dexterity is overwhelming, and only the sternest viewer will be able to resist the onslaught of such thoroughly marketed magic.
Disney has ripped a jewel out of its casing and set it in something far more elaborate; the effect is garish rather than nostalgic, frustrating rather than memorable.
There's a complicated jumble of gender politics at hand, and any attempt at modernizing the dynamic is more of a random piling on rather than a thoughtful incorporation.
Ian McKellan makes a fine, melancholy Cogsworth the clock, but the rest of the enchanted servants come off hammy and campy, while Kevin Kline seems lost as Belle's father and Luke Evans turns alpha male Gaston into a bigger cartoon than the original.
All the hit numbers... Emma Watson is charming as Belle; and the enchanted servants are voiced by the likes of Ian McKellan, Emma Thompson, and Ewan McGregor. But seeing it will probably send you back to the original animated movie for refreshment.
What Beauty and the Beast rises or falls on is the love story, and here, allowed to slow down to let in intimate moments, the movie catches fire. It's an exhilarating gift.
Audience Reviews for Beauty and the Beast
Chock full of the Disney magic we've all come to expect and then some, this work is infused with nearly an in-your-face undertone: "magic suckers!", that almost feels desperate. As well, there are politically correct minor cast substitutions that felt forced. Still, the Mouse is nobody's fool.
Super Reviewer
One cannot help but to compare this "Beauty And The Beast" with the Disney cartoon, given that it hews so closely to the original cartoon version. At times in the beginning, the films seemed shot-for-shot duplicates. In that light, the live-action music, characters and singing just aren't as "big" as those in the animated film. However, making such a comparison, is not fair to this live-action version, which itself is very fine. The sets and costumes are spectacular. The CGI is (mostly) impressive. (Just avoid looking at the Beast's face throughout the film and you'll think it was faultless.) The music is marvelous on its own, even if most of the new numbers are lackluster. This version is a definite five-star film on its own, which would be clearly evident it it didn't have to measure up to its predecessor.
Super Reviewer
It is hard sometimes to shake the feeling that this live-action Disney adaptation is relying too much on the 1991 animation, to the point that it almost feels like an extended version of that film; but even so, it offers a fresh and modern look at the classic story that makes it worth it.
Super Reviewer
Beauty and the Beast Quotes
| Lumiere: | Look, a girl! |
| Cogsworth: | I can see it's a girl, you fool! |
| Lumiere: | What if she is the one? |
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