There has been a lot of buzz around the new movie adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, which will be released into theaters this month. And with any adaptation of a classic film, there has been some excitement and some concern. Disney has been on a live action adaptation streak for a while now, preying on the nostalgia of childhood memory starved adults and on the demand of instant entertainment hungry children. But do we like these adaptations because they are good, or are these adaptations “good” because we already like them? While there have been a lot of mixed emotions about live action remakes, today we will be focusing in on what we can expect from the new Beauty and the Beast movie.

Personally, I am thrilled with the decision to cast Emma Watson as Belle. Because she has such a passion for many of the themes within the original, and hopefully new, Beauty and the Beast movie, I think she will give her all to do the part justice. According to directors, not only is Emma staring as Belle, but she has also been a part of further developing her character and the story along with the creators. Emma states, “We wanted to give [Belle] this element of being quite industrious and very inventive”. This will be a Belle that will “empower a whole new generation of girls”, claims costar Josh Gad (Lefou). Through what the cast and crew has told us, we can be expecting a little twist on the beloved fairytale of our childhood.

For a while, many people where wondering whether this new version of Beauty and the Beast would have the songs we all know and love. Emma Watson has been known as an elite actress for some time, but her ability to sing was unknown. After the marketing team at Disney released its first clips containing singing, I was relieved to hear that Emma could in fact hold a tune. Is she the next American Idol? Well no, for more reasons than one (RIP American Idol). But from what I’ve heard, Emma isn’t half bad, and that’s enough for me. I will have to wait for the movie to hit theaters to get an accurate review, but for someone with no musical training prior, I was pretty impressed. Some people are concerned about Emma sounding to auto tuned or not meeting their expectations, but it’s all a matter of preference. While this will be Emma’s first musical, this isn’t the first musical rodeo for other members of the cast like Frozen star Josh Gad or Ewan McGregor (Lumiere), who graduated from the Guildhall school of music and drama.

Finally, we must talk about the sheer beauty of this film. In every promotional clip and trailer, we get another glance at the beautiful and magical world of 1700s France; The gothic element of the castle, the beautiful costumes, the household (castlehold?) enchanted characters, Belle’s quaint “little town”. The only thing that gets under my skin is the CGI beast. In a perfect film world, filmmakers would stray from the fake looking, and slightly unsettling CGI and turn back to the puppets and prosthetics of the past. My mind turns to my favorite fawn, Mr. Tumnus in the movie Narnia. It may have taken a lot of time and effort to create and put on the costume, but boy did it look amazing. To turn to CGI for creating the beast is just a disappointment. From the trailers I have seen, because of CGI, beast is lacking the relatable human quality that we all fell in love with, that Belle fell in love with. To take away the human within the beast is to strip him of his dimensions and all that pull us towards him.

CGI beast and all, I’m still thrilled for this remake, because who doesn’t love a bit of nostalgia. I believe that this will be a fun and entertaining movie, and I’m curious to see what new directions they take it in and how it is adapted for today’s generation. Check out the latest Beauty and the Beast clips below.

Official Final Trailer: https://youtu.be/e3Nl_TCQXuw

Belle: https://youtu.be/nT1VQkTTT7M

Beast: https://youtu.be/MKyp9Tx-NPY