Fans of the 1991 animated classic are either besides themselves with excitement or groaning over the new live action version. Starring Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, and Luke Evans, the film follows the same plot as the original Disney film with Belle entering a mysterious enchanted castle to save her father from a beast. However, she soon starts to fall for him, which will help him break the curse he was put under.
Entertainment Weekly recently released nine images of the production, from Watson in the iconic yellow dress, on the stairs of the bookcase, and talking to her insane inventor father, played by Kevin Kline.
I’m not sure how I feel about the Beast’s design. It look similar to that of the original film, with the hunched legs and the horns, but it somehow doesn’t translate well into love action. It feels immobile, superficial and fake. It might look different in motion, but it does throw me off a bit. Hopefully Dan Stevens will really bring the character together.
I will say that the animate-objects do look a little…off? Mrs. Potts looks like a little too small, the duster has wings for some reason and why would you have a candle stick shaped like a man? The last one feels a little bit like cheating.
Luke Evan’s Gaston looks picture perfect, all suave and debonair, radiating in his ego. Josh Gad feels like a perfect fit for the bumbling but snarky sidekick Le Fou, and he has great comedic timing to boot.
Hopefully the production will go back and fix some of the bizarre choices of the original version, like making the prince a child when he gets cursed. It also wouldn’t hurt if they borrowed more elements from the Jean Cocteau version of the story, which may still be the best live action film version of the tale as old as time if this turns out to be a flop.
Beauty and the Beast will premiere in theaters on March 17, 2017.
