Review

'Beauty and the Beast' remake maintains magic of original while adding new elements

"Beauty and the Beast" got remade! Is any other introduction needed when discussing one of the greatest Disney animated films?

For those of you who don't know, Disney plans to remake essentially all of its original animated films within the next few decades, 22 to be exact (so far). This includes "Aladdin," "The Lion King," "Mulan," a Cruella de Vil origin movie (staring Emma Stone), "Snow White" and many more.

This has me both very excited and also slightly skeptical, because I don't want Disney to just churn these films out with the sole purpose of making a lot of money and have them turn out like crap.

“Beauty and the Beast,” however, does not fall into this category. This is a wonderfully magical film that brings the original feeling forth while adding new elements to the story. Some of you might be saying to yourself, "Wait, they added new elements to the story? Is that a good thing or bad?"

Rest assured that it is a good addition to the film. Specifically, the question of what happened to Belle’s mother is something new that is addressed. I really like this aspect actually, because it was something that I really never thought of with the original. It adds a lot more heart and character development, and a few new scenes are created because of it.

Since the original film came out in 1991, there have been 26 years of advancements when it comes to animation. The good thing about all of this is that the new animation technology still keeps the original feeling of the film. The musical numbers are very much the same, but it adds a lot of vibrant colors and great special effects to amplify this original feeling.

With the film now featuring a lot of special effects and, of course, not actually having a talking candlestick and clock (disappointing, I know), there is a lot of green screen work. Sometimes it is a little more noticeable with how Belle reacts, but this is a very small critique.

Now let’s talk about Emma Watson and the rest of the cast. They are excellent! Watson is a very believable Belle. She has a great singing voice and also has a believable romance with the Beast. This movie focuses a lot more on the gradual development of the relationship and how it turns romantic than the original did (longer screen time and a bigger budget help out a ton).

The Beast (Dan Stevens) is really great as well, with some excellent animation that captures both his beastly nature and gentle side.

Last, but definitely not least, is the great relationship between Gaston (Luke Evans) and Le Fou (Josh Gad). They are hysterical! Together they create a lot of funny moments that had me and the rest of the audience laughing. Altogether, the writers did an excellent job with the characters and bringing new qualities to the film.

I just have to say this: If you have a problem with the “gay character(s)," get over it. Seriously.

“Beauty and the Beast” maintains the elegance and enchantment of the original film while bringing a fresh spin to the table. If you haven’t seen this already (with this being the seventh-highest grossing opening weekend film in history, I assume a lot of you already have), you need to go see it!