Beauty and the Beast – a question of ‘Will you see it?’

Beauty and the Beast

As a guy I have to deal with the lingering question. Should I go an see Disney’s upcoming Beauty and the Beast? The movie, starring Emma Watson is set to release on March 17th. Today Disney released the final US trailer for the movie which is also a remake of the 1991 classic animated movie based. That movie was itself based on Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont fairytale La Belle et la Bête. Obviously any question of whether a guy like myself should see it could be answered by responding with – Just go!

Emma Watson

I think the question that remains is whether the movie will be any good. Beauty and the Beast is being directed by Bill Condon who made recent movies such as The Fifth Estate and Mr. Holmes. While neither was bad they hardly made a ripple in the movie industry. However, before that Condon worked on 2 The Twilight Saga movies. The ensemble cast of the movie just shouts quality. Emma Watson couldn’t be better picked even if Google had run an algorithm determining who should lead. She has the looks, the voice and the demeanor to play Belle. Opposite her stands Dan Stevens who has worked with Condon before and who now also stars in the X-Men series Legion. Stevens will play the Beast – an almost entirely CGI created character similar to Maz Kanata from The Force Awakens.

Titanic or Les Mis…

None of that still settles the issue. Should I watch it? What am I expecting? I have seen the original animated movie when I was a child, but not since then. Yet, the passage if time makes it interesting to visit the franchise again. But will the movie billed as a romantic fantasy musical be more of a chick-flick or romantic drama with actual depth. I can somehow expect to see a movie like Titanic, but without the iceberg. Or a movie such as Les Miserables, but without the revolutionary setting. While I think Titanic is a good movie I do get a sense of jumping off that doomed ship before the it hits the iceberg whenever I hear Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On.

Other contenders

From the trailer I think Disney is trying to reach a broad demographic. Certainly the movie is not aimed at just children, nor is the movie aimed at just female Emma Watson fans. However that does not mean Disney will succeed in their intent to actually get a broad demographic to see this movie. I still have doubts. I suppose I am not as obsessed as some fans who have noted down everything that has been said in all the trailer up till now, or who have carefully examined every dress worn by Emma Watson. But so far, March will offer viewers movies such as Logan and Ghost in the Shell (starring Scarlett Johansson). And compared to those franchises I might still not opt to watch Beauty and the Beast even if Disney makes all its stars align. Though for what it may be worth I did notice Emma Watson was not wearing gloves with her yellow ball gown.

The last trailer

Today Disney released it last and final trailer for the US market. From here on in they will release plenty of commercials, but not new trailers. So there is one last trailer for you to decide whether or not you will view Beauty and the Beast or whether you will give it a pass.

The cast of Beauty and the Beast is further enhanced by Kevin Kline, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Sir Ian Mckellen, Emma Thompson and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. The latter I saw in the 2013 period piece Belle and whom I am eager to see again.

Source: Blastr.com