Last weekend, I went to go see the new live-action version of Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens as leads. The movie is much like the original, with the addition of several character backstories which, in my opinion, improved the overall storytelling. In case you’ve been living under a rock your entire life and have never seen Beauty and the Beast, here’s a brief summary. Belle, a young bookworm who has ideas years beyond her time, is tired of village life and seeks excitement. However, the only “excitement” that her village affords her is a vain and muscular hunter named Gaston, who is determined to marry her despite her countless rejections. Yet, this soon changes when Belle’s father, an inventor named Maurice, gets lost in the woods on his way to present his new invention and stumbles upon an enchanted castle. When Maurice goes inside, he his met with an assortment of inanimate objects that can somehow move and talk and quickly discovers that the master of the castle is a terrifying beast. Maurice tries to escape, but is imprisoned inside. Little does he know that the beast was once a young prince who offended an enchantress and was transformed into the creature he is today. The only way to reverse the curse is to fall in love with a woman and earn her love in return before the last petal falls on a magic rose that the enchantress gave him. When Belle goes looking for her father, she decides to take his place as the beast’s prisoner and resigns herself to never seeing her father again. Yet, as Belle spends time in the castle, she begins to discover that perhaps the beast is not as horrible as she once thought. In a wonderful tale full of dramatic musical numbers, Belle finds herself falling for someone she never even dreamed possible.

This movie was truly one of the best Disney movies I’ve ever seen. The sets, special effects, and costuming were just so incredible and they also took a lot of work! The opening scene, “Belle,” according to Disney, involved more than 150 cast members and extras, 28 wagons and carts, and hundreds of live animals. The set was also huge, measuring 28,787 square feet. When it came to the special effects, though, I was blown away. The characters such as Lumierre, Cogsworth, and Mrs. Potts, who all required major special effects, came to life so beautifully and smoothly. Aside from the stunning special effects, the movie was also extremely well-casted. Starting with Belle and the beast, Emma Watson and Dan Stevens both impressed me with their portrayal of their iconic characters and on screen chemistry. However, one of these two did come out ahead in the singing department. While Emma Watson emulated Belle in all other aspects, her singing was obviously very auto-tuned, which stuck out compared to the rest of the cast, who were all very accomplished-sounding singers. Moving on to Gaston and Loufoo (Luke Evans and Josh Gad), the comedic characters, I couldn’t imagine them casted more perfectly. Gaston had just the right amount of muscles and vanity and Loufoo was truly hilarious and I believe he even improved on the original character. The array of sentient objects were also very well casted. Ewan McGregor, Ian McKellen, and Emma Thompson portrayed Lumierre, Cogsworth, and Mrs. Potts, and although you couldn’t see your faces, their voices were enough to carry the character perfectly. Finally, the liberties that the producers took with this movie also pleasantly surprised me. They gave Belle’s mother and the beast compelling backstories, which made parts of the movie make more sense, and they also changed Belle’s character a bit. Instead of simply being a bookworm, they also made her an inventor instead of her father, which I believed showed that Belle was ahead of her time even better.

All in all, this movie was highly enjoyable. If you are a fan of the original, I believe that you will love this movie even more!