MOVIE REPORT CARD: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

DATE: 3/17/17
TITLE: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
DIRECTOR: BILL CONDON
STARRING: EMMA WATSON, DAN STEVENS, LUKE EVANS, JOSH GAD, KEVIN KLINE, EWAN MCGREGOR, IAN MCKELLEN, EMMA THOMPSON

GRADES

ACTING: 75
DIRECTING: 75
SCREENPLAY: 70
CINEMATOGRAPHY: 90 
EDITING: 75

​FINAL: 77/C+ 

COMMENTS

What's most disappointing about Beauty and the Beast, is with all this talent, the film amounts to nothing more than mediocre. While there is enough pizzazz to entertain, nothing ever really amounts to anything. The "new" elements added, don't really bring anything to the table (some are quite dumb and useless), and the familiar elements carried over, are just that- carried over. There's no real pulse to the film, and it is for all intense and purposes, a paint-by-numbers coloring book. However, within the pages of that book, Condon and cast, occasionally go outside of the lines. Watson, does everything she can as Belle (within her reach), and the supporting cast of inanimate objects are trying to keep things fun (even with the occasional cringe-worthy moments). Evan's, also has a fun turn as Gaston (even though his "new"arc and climax are botched hard). Dan Stevens, as Beast, is the strongest performance here (even when his CGI let's him down alot). Ewan McGregor's Lumiere, is also quite a delight. However, because of its cracks, the film only highlights everything right about the original animated classic. It's a huge elephant sitting on top of the film, the entire way through. Even worse, it highlights just how much this adaptation, can't stack-up to the original film.