The Good, Bad, and the Beastly: A Review of "Beauty and the Beast"

On Mar. 17, the highly anticipated remake of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast came out in theaters. To see if this remake would live up to the glory of the original (or top it), a field trip was made to the theater to see this Disney film.
Emma Watson, who played Belle, did justice to the original portrayal of the character while working with the added twists of the modern remake. Watson made Belle out to be the tragically misunderstood beauty from the original movie, but gave the character an added sense of confidence and self-affirmation that was refreshing coming from a Disney princess. Before the movie hit theaters, Watson had revealed that unlike the original movie, Belle would be the inventor in the plot instead of her father. She was able to use this change to demonstrate Belle’s intelligence in a more modern way. Her singing, however, left much to be desired, as it almost felt like some of the more experienced singers in the cast had to lower their talents to her level, in order to make up for her inexperience. Others have criticized the auto-tuned qualities her voice seems to have. This did not, however, detract from the musicality of the movie. For someone who had never had to sing in a movie before, Watson did a fairly decent job.
The Beast, played by Dan Stevens, was just as well executed as Watson’s character. Stevens’ acting brought out much emotion and brought back to life the original character that many Disney fans have come to idolize over the years. Other characters such as Lumiere (Ewan McGregor), Gaston (Luke Evans), Lefou (Josh Gad), and Mrs. Potts (Emma Thompson), were very well portrayed and brought energy into this classic.
A controversial aspect of the movie that has been talked about is the sexuality of Lefou, who has been revealed to be gay. Disney handled this historic change well in a way that added to the plot of the movie without making it seem out of the ordinary or strange. The characters in the movie acknowledge that Lefou is gay, but do not make a big deal about it and treat him like any other character. If anything, it made the movie more enjoyable.