★ ★ ★ ½ ☆
Emma Watson and Dan Stevens lead an all-star cast in this
live-action remake of Disney’s 1991 animated classic. A smart and impetuous
young woman named Belle (Watson) takes her father’s place in the abandoned
castle of a hideous beast (Stevens), once a handsome prince punished for his
selfishness. Trapped within the confines of the crumbling ruin, Belle befriends
the transfigured house staff, slowly coming to discover there’s more to her
monstrous captor than meets the eye. Meanwhile the caddish, swashbuckling Gaston
(Luke Evans, firing magnificently on all cylinders), along with his infatuated
sidekick, LeFou (Josh Gad), schemes to kill the beast and make Belle his wife.
Watson is a stunning Belle. That’s about all I can muster,
really. I'd like to think my critical faculties extend beyond inserting several
heart-eye emojis, but when Watson first appears it’s as if everything else (crisp
faux-period detail, glittering landscapes, even Kevin Kline as Belle’s tender
father) leap away at warp factor 9. Watson’s well-read inventor is a tad more
outspoken and empowered than previous iterations of the story, and no less in
control of the frame, the music, or the romance (and, to the huge relief of Potter fans, her eyebrows).
The photorealistic renderings of our favourite characters
are intricately designed, but come off more than a little creepy (Madame
Garderobe and her void-like maw, especially…yikes!), even when given such
joyous sparkle by Hollywood’s finest: Ewan McGregor as Lumière,
the talking candlestick, Ian McKellen as the finest incarnation of Cogsworth,
the grumpy clock, and Emma Thompson, who gives reassuring life to Mrs. Potts,
the cockney teapot.
It seems odd that such an otherwise tangible and lavishly
designed yarn should have frayed digital edges: the Beast in particular feels very
much an artificial insertion. Dan Stevens has an astonishing set of pipes on
him, but the grumbling voice distortion and lack of physical heft somewhat
squash his natural broiling charm. Still, he delivers the same heavy-pawed comedy-catharsis
combo we expect; certainly enough to forgive any less-than special effects.
CGI is also used so extensively during the many musical
numbers (‘Be Our Guest’ is the biggest offence) to compensate for the colour and
flair of the original you wonder why they didn’t remake it into a 3D animation,
rather than live action. Likewise, the grand ballroom sequence is a little
flat-footed. Lacking the fluid, ground-breaking elements of its animated
counterpart and opting instead for a whirling digital lightshow, director Bill
Condon’s desire to enthral youngsters of a new generation could mean anti-climax
for long-time fans.
Maybe this is a sign that the ‘tale as old as time’ has
finally been drained of all invention? Perhaps, but those simply after a good
time at the movies won’t be deterred by such a sweet, funny and soulful
retelling. The songs, story and characters are pretty much invincible at this
point, and to see them all brought to life again by some of cinema’s brightest
stars is undeniable fun. Like the recent revivals of Cinderella and The Jungle Book, it shines with the high-tech glimmer of modern filmmaking and attempts to develop some new material: nothing much is lost, but there’s really nothing there
that wasn’t there before.
