Beauty and the Beast Review

Well! If it isn't another blog post from me! Hello!

I thought it was about time to review Beauty and the Beast. There have been MANY conflicting reports about the singing, subject matter, and just about everything, so I'll try to go into some depth here.

*WARNING: THERE MAY BE SOME SPOILERS, SO IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT ALREADY- PROCEED WITH CAUTION*

So, I'll start with the very beginning. It starts out with an amazing French ball (squeee!!) with lots of French decor that's actually accurate for that time period (double squee!!) and don't even get me started on the gold accents and ACTUALLY CORRECT FRENCH FOOTWEAR!! The royalty (aka our dashing Prince/Beast) and his staff reminded me so much of what it would be like in that time period. If you can't tell, I'm in love with revolution-ish era France (Beauty and the Beast was written in 1756, so pre-revolution. The same time that Louis XV would be ruling). So those were HUGE selling points for me. Flash to Belle's little province and one of my favorite songs in the movie. When Emma Watson began to song OH MY GOODNESS.

And that brings me to my next point- Emma Watson. I've been imagining Emma Watson in the role of Belle ever since I was very small. My brother loved her and loved Belle, so I guess I couldn't see anyone else more fit for the role. I was blown away, honestly, by her ability to pull off Belle SO well. Lots of people have lots of things to say about the whole auto-tune thing, but I guess it didn't catch my attention as much as it did everyone else's. It's not the huge deal that everyone is making it out to be. Did you know that the people in Pitch Perfect were auto-tuned (I actually haven't seen the movie, but I guess their pitch wasn't as perfect as it ought to have been. Heh)? So I don't see it as a big deal. She was perfect in my opinion. That's all.

I can't stand movies that are overly feminist. Like, at ALL. I'm so over the strong, independent female characters that society loves oh, so much. Does this make me a terrible female? Emma Watson was able to pull off the perfect balance of strength and naivety. It was terribly refreshing.

Dan Stevens (the Beast) was pretty good overall. I liked how you could definitely see the change in him as he fell in love with Belle- something that the old animated version lacked. However, he seemed just a bit detached in my opinion. His interactions with Belle didn't seem wholly genuine, but I thought they were very sweet. I'm a hopeless romantic, what can I say?

Now, there were a few moments in the movie (probably lasting 5 seconds if you add them all together) that turned people off and made many people hate on the movie without even seeing it. Lefou was a little interesting, but nothing that was terribly noticeable. However, there were two moments that gave a nod to a character that was gay. So what? Like, really, people? You're going to freak out about 3 seconds of a 2 hour movie just because some guy wore a dress (I'm serious. It was probably BARELY 3 seconds). Chill out. This is the world we're living in, and no amount of hiding is going to improve/change anything.

Other notable things that deserve recognition:

~ French monarchy.

~ Ian Mckellen (Gandalf) as Cogsworth's voice.

~ The costumes and the classic French square neckline on Belle's dresses.

~ The Pirate King from "Pirates of Penzance" was Belle's dad. Enough said.

~ French monarchy.

~ The dance scene with the beautiful set and costumes.

~ Belle's historically accurate bedroom.

~ Did I mention FRENCH MONARCHY?!?!

And if you haven't seen it yet, please let me know and I shall invite you over and force you to watch it.

I'm serious.

No, really.

You HAVE to see it.

Also! Here are some pictures to compare and contrast the historical accuracy of this perfect movie. :

      

1.Marie Antoinette's Bedroom                    

(located in the palace of Versailles).           

2. Belle's bedroom. It's not going to be as lavish, seeing as it's a guest room, but same idea. Also, they used a filter to tone down the colors. It's really gold and bright blue.

          

1. Believe it or not, Louis XIV (my favorite king)        

kind of set the scene for fashion during the 1700's.           

These shoes are actually ones that he wore during             

his reign (which was a tad earlier. He died in 1715).        

2. These are Cadenza's shoes from the movie.

Unfortunately, I was unable to find the
shoes that our wonderful prince wears in
the beginning. Alas...

                                                   

                     

1. This dress is from around the 1750s, 
so it's right on point for the time period.                     

If you google "1700s French Rocco dresses",            

yellow is not a popular color! White dresses               

with floral prints were what royalty was wearing,       

so naturally, everyone wanted to be seen in that.         

This dress would probably be considered a "Court      

Gown" meaning that it is more intricate as an            

everyday dress, and it most likely has a trail

behind it.

2. While this dress includes the neckline and layers
of a 1700's French dress (and is beautiful beyond
 belief), it wouldn't fly in a French ballroom. I
will acknowledge that they do feature accurate
versions of a French dress but unfortunately,
this dress just doesn't cut it for historical
accuracy. Don't get me wrong- I still LOVE it...

(Historically accurate)

I'm sure I'll have a "Part II" eventually as I watch it more and fall even more in love. But I'll end it here for now.

Vivre longtempts et prospérer!

I don't speak French, so if that translates to some weird version of that, I apologize. Google Translate doesn't like me.