Plot: A live-action re-make of the 1991 animated classic. A cursed prince must find true love before a magical rose loses all its petals, or he and his entire castle will remain cursed for all time.

Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme. That phrase has become etched in millions of peoples minds since the release of the hugely successful animated version from 1991. Now 26 years later, we get to re-live that all over again with another one of Disney's latest live-action re-makes.

The history of Disney's live-action re-make phase actually started a lot earlier than people think. The 1996 version of 101 Dalmations was the one that started it all. I thought it was a solid and entertaining re-make, and Glen Close was a great Cruela DeVil.
Then it was the film that is seen as the beginning of the current phase of re-makes, and this is the 2010 version of Alice In Wonderland. While it is most certainly a disappointment, Tim Burton's portrayal I thought was still a perfectly fine watch.
Four years later, and we now move to Maleficent. This was certainly a bold move on telling a famous story from the villains prospective. It was another disappointment. But thankfully, it was still a solid film. But it should have been much darker and have a more interesting script.
It was not until only two years ago, where I felt the Disney re-makes were on the right track. I had my worries with the Cinderella re-make. The trailer was showing all the important parts of the story, and that had me thinking it would bring nothing new.
I was so wrong, as director Kenneth Branagh managed to bring the same magic the animated original gave. It also gave our major characters some much needed depth and gave the re-make such a magical touch to it that will never get me tired of watching it again.
Last year saw this phase of Disney as its highest, as they made the first re-make that I felt was better than its original. Directed by Jon Favreau, The Jungle Book was the adventure spectacle that I wanted it to be. Especially as I was never that bothered by the 1967 animation. I even think the 1994 live-action version by Stephen Sommers is as good. But now, this 2016 version is certainly my Jungle Book.

As for Beauty And The Beast, there have actually been a surprising amount of different versions. But the only other adaption that I feel deserves to be mentioned, is the 1946 version from France. But I cannot see anything topping the 1991 version that we all know and remember with such fondness. As many also know, it was first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.

Now after that extremely long intro, it's now onto my view on this latest version. So many emotions are coming out of me with this one. I really did my best to see this on its own merits. But you can probably imagine how hard it is for fans of the film like me to try and ignore myself replicating it to Disney's previous version that became a big part of my childhood. As pretty much everyone already knows this story, I won't be as vague as my usual reviews. But I will still not spoil it too much that it won't ruin your viewing.
It started with some promise as they began by going down the path Cinderella did, and that is give the characters more depth and cover some ground that was never fulfilled in the animated version. Then suddenly I had a fear they were going to be a beat-for-beat copy, as some scenes were completely identical. Thankfully by the end of it, that was only done in chunks. There were some new segments that was left to be explored with our characters and story. Some bits worked well, some not so much and some small moments that just fell flat for me.

In terms of effort, the performances were pretty good. But for being memorable, it's a mixed bag for me. The one that stood out the most was the Beast. A lot of holes from the original were explained well, and it gave me a much more rounded character. Played by Dan Stevens who I loved in The Guest, I was unsure if he would pull this off. But with a lot of help of some great CGI and motion-capture, I was very pleased with how he turned out. His look was very seamless and never felt out of place with the practical sets.
Emma Watson was fine on the whole. As a lead though, it looked like a struggle for her to hold the film and be that strong-willed Disney princess that we all remember. She definitely has her moments. But not enough to be the one that people should be talking about afterwards.
Luke Evans was a funny one to sum up. For such a larger-than-life character as Gaston, how are you supposed to even come close to being as good? Despite all that, I think he did well for the most part. He is nowhere near as intimidating or rambunctious. But he managed to have enough charm and entertainment to just about win me over.
As for the others, Josh Gad did a great imitation in terms of the voice of LeFou. But the addition the writers gave to his character felt forced. However, I will give props to them for showing hints of even this old tale moving with the times. Kevin Kline as Maurice had more involvement which was nice to see, and it's always to see Kline in anything nowadays.
I have to mention Hattie Morahan's character, especially in the second half. It felt they added her on unnecessarily and it would have flowed much better without her character being there.
As for the voice work, Ewan McGregor was pretty good, Ian McKellan was as good as you expect, Emma Thompson was probably the best out of all of them and I have to give credit to Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Audra McDonald and the always great Stanley Tucci.

All the great songs that are already imprinted in are head are still there. I was so happy to see Alan Menken return and do that score that gives me goosebumps every time. All of those ones we all know were very well performed. 'Belle', 'Belle Reprise' and 'Something There' was pretty identical to the original. 'Gaston' was done rather well. I always loved 'The Mob Song', and I was happy to get that same affection for this version as I did with the other version. But I think the star of the show was 'Be Our Guest'. They really did not pull any punches with this one. The execution of the song was clear to see that this was there show-stopping moment. It even got a round of applause in the screening that I was in. It was like being at a theatre.
There were a few new songs to get our teeth into. Most of them felt weak and fairly forgettable. I think they may have done better if they were song on the stage. However, there was one that I was very unsure of at the start. But by the end of this particular song, I rather enjoyed it.

From a technical side, there is a clear big budget feel to it. There are plenty of fancy costume and set designs to keep your eyes on from start to finish. The design of cursed characters was pretty good on the whole. The only one I had questions with, is Lumierre, as his size seem to drastically change part way through without any explanation.
It is hard to review the visual effects. In terms of the design, they were great. But a lot felt like they shouldn't be there. There were clear scenes that looked digital that did not need to be. The latest version of Cinderella showed some impressive sets, that were all practical. In this, there were sets (both interior and exterior) that you could tell were on a green screen. If I was being harsh, I would call that lazy for not going out on location instead.

I think you can tell that I have a lot to say about this one. But I'm sure you can understand, as many people including myself have in this on such a high pedestal that we see it as one of the greatest films of all-time, not just in its own genre.

In the end, the film is very much a slave to the original. It goes by the same formula of the 1991 version for the majority of this new portrayal. But I think the utilising of the pacing and execution just felt slightly off and de-tracted me from the film. There were many moments that just made me go "this film makes me want to watch the original". Sadly a lot of re-makes can end up being like that. Thankfully, there is enough strong content in this re-make to somehow claw itself away from that phrase, and have that magical feeling. But only up to a point.
Despite my criticism for it, I had a pretty good time watching this. This definitely had a "big" feel to it and definitely did not feel serviceable compared to most of today's so-called blockbusters. I liked some of the tweaks to some of the characters motivations. But the rest of the changes did not seem to hit the spot, or did not work at all. I admire it for the changes as that is what I was hoping for. But the execution just did work as well as the Cinderella and The Jungle Book re-makes.

I think it will do well enough to win fans over, both old and new.

Rating: 7/10