Reboots, they’re all the rage right now. Fuller House, Gilmore Girls, Kong: Skull Island, Rings, etc., and Disney is no exception, making Beauty and the Beast the most recent addition to the wash, rinse, and repeat trend. This past Friday I contributed my $6.50 to the $64.1 million that Beauty and the Beast made on its opening Friday, and some estimates predict that it could make as much as $176 million opening weekend alone. Just for reference, that’s more than The Hunger Games or Iron Man 3 made. Sound like hyperbole? Maybe, but all I have to say is that I have never seen more people at the theater that I frequent than last Friday for Beauty and the Beast, not even for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and I thought that was a full house.
Beauty and the Beast really is the best Disney movie I’ve ever seen. Full stop. In fact, I daresay that Beauty and the Beast is the best movie I have seen in while, no doubts about it—and here’s why.
*It's not like I'm going to spoil the story for you, but there are some new adaptations talked about below, so if you really want to be safe (and surprised), bookmark the article and come back when you've watched the film*
1. It's an Amazing Adaptation
Even if you haven’t watched the original animated film in years, this movie brings it all back to you, and you really have to give a hand to the production team for putting together a film that is hugely reminiscent and true to the original, while also having its own slightly modern and stylistic personality. Iconic scenes are just that, iconic. Beast’s transformation, Belle’s encounter with the wolves in the woods, Gaston’s song—they all feel like they’ve been brought to life directly from the original animation, right down to color and camera angles. But the movie also has a feeling of newness to it, derived from the inspired clothing with a modern twist, and the adaptations of the all the castle appliances.
2. The Cast is Incredible
Emma Watson was born to be Belle, I won’t be told otherwise. Not once during the film did I ever see Hermione Granger, a fear I had going into the movie, and her voice is magnificent. Dan Stevens as the Beast is a heart-wrenching act, Luke Evans masters Gaston, Josh Gad’s Lefou is characteristically Lefou with a reimagined twist, and that doesn’t even begin to mention the stellar performances and singing of Kevin Kline (Maurice), Ewen McGregor (Lumière), Sir Ian McKellen (Cogsworth), or the many others whose appearances will make you go, “What? No way!”
3. The Diversity Reflects the Modern World
Beauty and the Beast took a note from the wildly popular Broadway sensation Hamilton, and made their cast a multi-cultural one featuring performers from a diverse array of races—evident in the opening dance scene—including some black actors and actresses in prominent roles, such as Belle’s librarian, Lumière’s love interest Plumette, and Maestro’s wife Madame de Garderobe, just to name a few. The cast isn't as multicultural as it could be, but the contrast between the original and this update is clear.
Additionally, there was some controversy surrounding the adaptation of the character Lefou, Gaston’s sidekick, as director Bill Condon “[s]peaking to press about the film…revealed that he felt Le Fou ‘must have been in love’ with Gaston,” making Lefou technically the first “openly” gay Disney character. There were some cheeky hints of Lefou’s ardor for Gaston, and he’s also seen dancing with a man at the end of the film. “I just thought it was so important in the celebration of love at the end that we made it as broad as we could,” Condon is quoted as saying by Metro.
4. Evermore, and the Rest of the Score Deliver
Beauty and the Beast contains amazing renditions of all the original music from the first animated version, as well as four brand new songs that are unique to the film and help give it a fresh feel, while at the same time fitting the theme so well that you find yourself wondering if maybe they were in the original and you just forgot. Among these, are nostalgic songs for Maurice, and the cast of castle appliances, as well as an amazing new song to start off the film by opera singer Audra McDonald. However, the most epic of all these new songs is the Beast’s new solo, Evermore, a tragically beautiful love song of tender longing that will give you all the feels.
5. Belle’s Role is Empowering to Us All
Is it just me, or is Belle a severely understated Disney “princess?” Emma Watson’s Belle brought new life to a character that I think many of us forgot was so incredible, because think about it, she’s not just the “princess,” and she’s certainly not the damsel in distress, she’s the hero of her own story. It’s Belle who valiantly takes the place of her father in the castle, knowing that if anyone can escape, it’s her. It’s Belle who dares to think differently than everyone else in her town, she’s that girl that everyone laughs at, not knowing that in a few years they’ll be imitating her. She invents things, she’s well-read and proud of it, she’s smart, she’s different, she’s headstrong, she’s courageous and compassionate, standing up for herself, her father, and the Beast, but also showing compassion in situations where others would not. Emma Watson brings us feminist Belle, and I am living for it.
6. The Message of Love is Timeless
Beauty and the Beast is a love story after all, but the kind of love it portrays goes beyond romance, to the root of acceptance and compassion. The true message of Beauty and the Beast is that appearances aren’t everything, character is what counts. Feeble old men can actually be brilliant on the inside, beautiful girls can be the smartest people in town, handsome huntsman aren’t always handsome in character, and sometimes beasts just need a little love to reveal the kindness and compassion within them. Life is not about what you and I look like on the outside—life is not about whether you’re pretty or “beastly”—life is about how we love and care for one other, how we look beneath the surface to see the person beneath.
Disney’s new Beauty and the Beast really is worth every penny you’ll pay to see it, and it really is going to be the best Disney movie you’ll have seen so far, because the story of Beauty and the Beast is our story. It’s the story about a girl with big dreams, and a father who loves her, a beast who has a beating heart, and a man who is a beast at heart. Beauty and the Beast reminds us that we are all unique, and we are not always what we appear, nor should we let what people say about us limit what we are capable of.
Take a hint for the characters in Beauty and the Beast: learn to open your heart to love from the Beast, learn to be proud of your uniqueness and stand up for those you love—including yourself—from Belle, learn to support your children through whatever adversity they face from Maurice, learn that love comes in many forms from Lefou, Lumière, Maestro, Mrs. Pots,and all the rest, and learn the dangers of judging people based on their appearances and who you think they are from Gaston.
Disney’s new Beauty and the Beast is the movie about love that we don’t deserve, and that’s exactly why we need it.
