Beauty and the Beast (2017)

Summer holiday viewing with the kids. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. And look, I went in with low expectations for Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast, knowing full well what these remakes tend to be. Even then, it managed to disappoint me.

This is one of the most hollow entries in Disney's ever-expanding catalogue of animated-classic rehashes, and what makes it particularly frustrating is how much effort has clearly gone into it. Every rose petal is rendered in painstaking CGI detail. The ballroom is lavish. The budget is written all over every single frame. And yet, somehow, none of it feels alive. It's like watching a very expensive museum exhibit of a film you already love, impressive in its recreation, completely dead on arrival.

The 1991 original worked because of warmth, charm, and a kind of hand-drawn expressiveness that let the characters breathe. This version replicates the shape of that film almost note for note, and in doing so, completely misses what made it special. You can trace every scene back to its source and tick it off the list. That's not filmmaking, that's karaoke.

Emma Watson is the biggest problem, and I say that without any real pleasure, because she's clearly working hard. She's professional, she's well-intentioned, and she obviously cares about the role. But caring about something and being right for it are two very different things. Her Belle is stiff, overly earnest, and dramatically flat in a way that no amount of sincerity can fix. There's a moment where she delivers a line about not fitting in with the same measured, composed delivery she'd use addressing a committee, and it just lands with a thud. The role needs spark, imagination, a kind of wild-eyed wonder. It doesn't get any of that here. I've seen her carry franchise films before, and I have a real soft spot for her work in the Harry Potter series, particularly in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, where she had real energy as part of an ensemble. But leading a film on her own, especially a musical romance that demands this much emotional range, is a different ask entirely, and this confirms she's not quite there.

Her chemistry with Dan Stevens' Beast is virtually nonexistent, which is a serious problem when the entire film rests on you believing in their romance. He's buried under so much CGI that it's hard to connect with him at all, and whatever emotional arc the story is supposed to trace never feels earned. It's a series of scenes that happen in sequence rather than a relationship that develops.

The supporting cast do their best, and there are brief flashes of fun from the enchanted household objects. But the new songs added to the runtime add nothing of value, and the expanded running time only makes it more obvious how thin the actual story is when you stretch it out like this. The original was tight and propulsive. This plods.

I want to be fair: it's not offensive, it's not unwatchable, and if your kids are happy on the sofa eating crisps, it'll do the job. But there's a difference between functional and good, and this is firmly, stubbornly functional. It feels made to satisfy a business decision rather than any real creative impulse. Disney looked at their back catalogue, saw a title with guaranteed brand recognition, and produced something that fulfils the brief without ever asking why the brief was worth fulfilling.

Two stars. Soulless, safe, and sorely lacking in magic. The 1991 film remains entirely untouched by this.

Rating: ★★  | Year: 2017  | Watched: 2025-08-01

View on Letterboxd →

Where to watch

Watch in the UK
Stream: Disney Plus
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi

Watch in the US
Stream: Disney Plus
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US

Affiliate disclosure: Movies With Macca may earn a small commission on purchases or subscriptions started via these links. It costs you nothing extra.

Related on Movies With Macca

More from Bill Condon: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (2012)
More with Emma Watson: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) · Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) · Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) · Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
More from the 2010s: Wonder (2017) · Beautiful Boy (2018) · The Witch (2015) · What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
More family: Alice in Wonderland (1951) · Wonder (2017) · Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anastasia (1997)
More fantasy: Viy (1967) · Alice in Wonderland (1951) · Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain (2024) · Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (2025)