Be our guest for Beauty and the Beast
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, PG 123MINS Opens Friday at Hollywood Plaza, Scarborough
Opening at the Hollywood Plaza this week is Beauty and the Beast – a live reimagination of this classic fairytale.
It stars Emma Watson and Dan Stevens alongside Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, Ewan McGregor as Lumiere, Luke Evans as Gaston, and Emma Thompson as Mrs Potts.
Beauty and the Beast is the fantastic journey of Belle (Emma Watson), a bright, beautiful and independent young woman who is taken prisoner by a beast (Dan Stevens) in his castle.
As Belle’s time in the castle progresses, she learns of the curse placed upon the entire castle, transforming the servants into furniture, and the prince into the monstrous beast.
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, PG, 129MINS Opens Friday including Hollywood Plaza, Scarborough
If it’s not Baroque, don’t fix it. Those immortal words, uttered by Cogsworth the talking clock in the 1991 animated Beauty And The Beast, are heeded by director Bill Condon for this ravishing live action remake.
The charm, sweetness, heart-tugging romance, infectious songs and rumbustious humour of the original – Disney’s finest hand-drawn animation -– have been lovingly polished by screenwriters Stephen Chbosky and Evan Spiliotopoulos.
Strong-willed bookworm Belle (Emma Watson) continues to rebuff the amorous advances of preening Gaston (Luke Evans).
Belle trades places with her inventor father Maurice (Kevin Kline) as eternal prisoner of an accursed Beast (Dan Stevens) in his crumbling stronghold.
The gloom of incarceration is lifted by the kindness of enchanted servants including clock Cogsworth (Sir Ian McKellen), flirta- tious candlestick Lumiere (Ewan McGregor), and clinking teapot Mrs Potts (Emma Thompson) and her teacup son, Chip (Nathan Mack).
Watson is a spirited heroine and is blessed with a sweet singing voice, and Stevens teases out the humanity of his fallen prince.
Both cede the limelight to the twin comic tornadoes of Evans and Gad. Lumiere’s eye-popping Busby Berkeleyesque Be Our Guest is still a showstopper, augmented with shimmering digital effects, and the title song performed by Thompson brings a lump to the throat.