Mike Reviews ‘Beauty and the Beast’
Disney's live action remake of "Beauty and the Beast" continued to dominate in the box office over the weekend, raking in just over $88 million to add to the $317 million it's already made in North American theaters so far. The next closest movie this past weekend was the "Power Rangers" reboot coming in with a respectable $40.5 million take at theaters.
My wife and I chose to go to "Beauty and the Beast" because this is one of her favorite Disney animated classics. When my kids were younger, this movie played continuously, occasionally alternating with one of the other Disney classics like "Aladdin" or "Little Mermaid."
The movie stayed pretty faithful to the original, with the actors capturing all the subtle nuances of the characters they were playing right down to some the cartoonish facial expressions. I even caught a subtle nod to an older Disney movie, the "Sound of Music," in one of the scenes where Belle runs to the top of a hill while singing as the camera pans around her. The casting, music and scenery were excellent and there were some extra songs thrown in, but they didn't slow down this movie at all. The theater I saw it at was fairly full and everyone seemed to enjoy it as much as my wife and I. If you liked the animated version, I definitely recommend catching this one in theaters now.