Movie Review Of "Beauty And The Beast"

The recent movie “Beauty and the Beast,” is a classic love story about a beautiful young village maiden, Belle, and a cursed prince, who became a large, frightening, hairy beast living in a huge, cursed, cold, and forbidding castle. This 2017 Walt Disney Pictures and Mandeville Films 129 minute film features combinations of cartoon characters mingled with live humans, extravagant background music, and excellent solos by cartoon characters and human actors. The movie’s plot is based on a 1700’s French fairy tale, “La Belle et al Bete.” The film has interwoven plots of wonderfully created digitized colors, suspenseful chases, and interactions of the various characters. Many adventures and dangerous threats to the main characters, such as the maiden’s father who gets imprisoned in the castle by the Beast after being chased by some vicious wolves, keep the audience in suspense. A very sturdy and fast white horse is one of the interesting characters, who is ridden toward and escaping from the castle. Belle (Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame) gets threatened by dangerous wolves, but gets rescued by the Beast (Dan Stevens of Secret of the Tomb and TV fame) Though injured in the battle protecting her, he gets care for his injuries by Belle..  She is also courted by a village self-centered ruffian-type of bully, Gaston, who is determined to marry her with all kinds of sly behaviors including threatening to kill her father. Gaston even ties him to a tree where he might be devoured by the wolves. She continues to rebuff Gaston throughout the movie. Earlier in the movie, she had exchanged herself in the castle prison for her father, who she greatly loves, and is determined to save him from the castle prison. When the father tries to explain the Beast to the village people, Gaston gets him imprisoned in a jail-like wagon, where he is to be sent to an insane asylum. Belle ends up in the same wagon. Meanwhile, the villain is off to the castle with the village people to try to kill the Beast. 

There is an exciting battle between the various village people trying to also kill the Beast. They hear the castle is haunted, which leads to their being frightened in the battle. The battle includes characters such as a clock, candlelabra, harpsichord, teapot and her son, a cup, and a clothes closet among others. One of the most intriguing scenes, which had occurred in the 1991 Beauty and the Beast movie, was an elaborate dance between the lovely young maiden with a beautiful yellow gown, and the Beast in an 1800’s like attractive military-like costume. Over time they come to understand, appreciate, and have affection for each other. There is climatic scene at the end. The movie is a very good revision of the excellent 1991 rendition. A friend and I had snuck in the 1991 movie at the former Garfield theater behind the Rockside Road shopping center. In a rare occurrence at movies, the audience applauded the movie.  Recommended for age 5 on up.

Bob Rittenhouse

I am mostly retired Have had careers as a librarian, high school and college teacher, scientist in the life sciences and information science, occasionally work as a Cuyahoga Board of Elections poll worker, have a little consulting business, Rittenhouse Info Trak

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Volume 13, Issue 7, Posted 5:10 PM, 04.04.2017