Courtney Reviews: Beauty and the Beast

Warning: this blog post contains spoilers for Beauty and the Beast.

I'm a self-confessed Disney lover. My adoration for their films knows no bounds, and Beauty and the Beast has always been my absolute favourite. From the film itself, to the sing-along-songs, to the score by the fantastic Alan Menken; ever since I was a little girl I can't remember a time when I didn't love it. The original film is the same age as me. Released in 1991, it won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Original Score, along with a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture.

I know I'm one of many many people who gleefully gasped when they found out that Disney were remaking the classic, but I was slightly apprehensive at the same time. There's nothing worse than a film you love being remade and destroyed all in one go. I was nervous about Emma Watson taking on the role of Belle, largely because she's been fixed in my mind as Hermione Granger for years, and I worried what the CGI Beast would look like. Would he look ridiculous? Would he look anything like his original animated self or would he look completely different?

I waited until the second time I've seen the film before I scribbled all my thoughts down on paper, and there are so many thoughts, let me tell you. 

First of all, I loved it. I absolutely loved what Disney have done differently and also what they've kept exactly the same. They kept some of the dialogue word for word the same as the original film and before you ask, yes, I'm that loser who knows all of those words. The songs were wonderful, and the new ones were a welcome addition for me. I cried like a baby during the final scenes and honestly I fully expected to because Disney turns me into an emotional wreck at the best of times (don't even mention the beginning scenes of Up to me...).

My overall favourite part of the film was Luke Evans as Gaston. I don't think Disney could've cast a better actor to play him. I've seen clips of Hugh Jackman take on the role in the stage version in the past, and don't get me wrong he was great, but there was just something different about the way Luke Evans played him and I loved it. We were given a little more insight into Gaston's backstory - very little, but more than the original movie. We learned that he was a soldier, and there's a distinct sense that he's not entirely in control of his behaviour as Le Fou continues to calm him throughout the film. For me, this fleshed him out so much more as a villain and gave him more motive for his actions. His blatant misogyny is still very much present, which is a huge part of his character in the original film. I always think an actor has done a truly brilliant job with a villain when I really destest the character they're playing (see also, Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge - don't even get me started).

The biggest relief for me was that I didn't hate Emma Watson as Belle. It's obvious she's not a natural singer, but I can't fault her acting. Her Belle was understanding, kind, intelligent, headstrong and resourceful - all the things she should be. I loved the fact she flat out denied Gaston's proposals to his face rather than politely thinking of an excuse to throw his way. And watching Belle use her initiative to create inventions, actively showing the audience her intelligence rather than just being told it was there, was brilliant. 

As a writer, the character development and fleshing out of backstories was something I noticed immediately and it warmed my nerdy little heart. I've already mentioned that we were given an insight into Gaston's recent past, but we were also shown exactly how the Beast grew into the spoiled brat he was, as well as finding out what happened to Belle's mother. Obviously these are all unanswered questions from the animated film, and Disney so often fails to explain the absense of parents, so it was nice to have those questions answered. A bugbear for me from the original film is that the Beast couldn't read. It always frustrated me that a Prince who grew up in a wealthy household and probably has the biggest library in France couldn't read. It just never made any sense to me. Also, it left little in common between him and Belle. One of the major reasons that Gaston was so wrong for her was that he didn't appreciate her interest in books and in bettering herself and her education. So, to see that 2017's Beast is a bit of a bookworm made me so happy. 

Before the film came out, there was the obvious buzz and news surrounding the sexuality of one of the characters. In all honesty I think this was blown way out of proportion. Disney still has a long, long, long way to go when it comes to representing the LGBT community. LeFou's sexuality was very subtly hinted at throughout the film, but not enough to make such huge claims that Disney did. It's a step in the right direction, just the tiniest baby step I suppose. 

On that note, I'll end this rambling mess of a review which has just turned into a post of me pouring out all my thoughts and feelings about my favourite Disney film! Go see Beauty and the Beast if you haven't already. You'll love it. I promise :)

~ C xxx