"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Saturday, March 25, 2017

Beauty and the Beast (2017, PG)

For my money, the most important thing to do with the new live-action Beauty and the Beast is to acknowledge that it’s not the original and then move on.  Even without getting into the merits of the singing between the two casts (and the original remains the champ, I’m not disputing that,) it’s always hard to hear a new rendition of songs you’ve heard countless times.  Heck, it took several listens for me to get used to the cast recording version of Hamilton’s opening number having listened to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s solo of it at the White House copious times over the last seven years.  How much more indelible is the original soundtrack for Beauty and the Beast?  No matter what, if you keep the new film in the context of the original, it’s going to come up short, but if you take a step back and allow it to be its own thing, you might like it quite a bit.

As in the original story, “most peculiar mademoiselle” Belle trades places with her father as the prisoner of a gruff, entitled prince under a curse that turned him into a beast.  Unbeknownst to Belle, the curse can only be broken by true love, and the Beast’s servants (transformed by the curse into household objects) believe that Belle is their last hope for the spell finally being broken.  After their fraught beginning, Belle and the Beast gradually start understanding one another better, both realizing there may be more to the other than they had previously thought.

While, again, it’s hard to fiddle with such iconic songs and scenes, I think the new cast acquits itself pretty well.  Emma Watson’s Belle has a less powerful voice, more contemplative, but she brings a nice air to her numbers.  And though she’s not one of the stronger links for me musically, her acting is superb.  Her Belle is sharply observant, independent, forceful, and gently compassionate.  The other half of the equation, Dan Stevens (Jane Austen alum and formerly of Downton Abbey,) makes an excellent Beast.  The CGI might be iffy, but his performance isn’t.  I really enjoy his prideful, snappish Beast who is still slightly immature and uses his monstrosity to hide his pain and loneliness.  Stevens is also my singing MVP, at least for the actors that I’d not heard sing before (he’s obviously not gonna compete with Audra McDonald.)  His solo “Evermore,” one of several new numbers Alan Menken composed for the film, is the standout of the whole film for me – just gorgeous.  For both characters, I think the tweaks to the story make them even richer and more engaging.  The screenplay also helps build a bit more slowly to the romance, showing how Belle and the Beast are forming a friendship that could turn to love.

Luke Evans as Gaston brings the buffoonery, swagger, and genuine menace in equal turn, I like the minor arc given to Josh Gad (a.k.a. Olaf the snowman) as his toady LeFou, and Kevin Kline is sweetly earnest as Belle’s father.  As for the servants, Ewan McGregor’s exuberant Lumiere, Sir Ian McKellen’s stuffy Cogsworth, and Emma Thompson’s motherly Mrs. Potts are the most noteworthy, but the aforementioned Audra McDonald is also featured, along with Stanley Tucci and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.  Everyone’s singing here is quite respectable.  I think the staging can get a bit too busy on some numbers – the titular “Beauty and the Beast” is lovely, but I feel like there’s too much going on onscreen.  However, when the film finds the right balance between musical and movie, as in “Gaston,” “Be Our Guest,” and “The Mob Song,” it can be pretty great.

Warnings

Some scary scenes and Disney violence.

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