Fire emoji
Beauty and the Beast (2017) was not that bad, and frankly it's my favorite "live action remake" of Disney's. Quite frankly if this movie was made by literally anyone other than Disney, I would consider it one of the best fairy tale adaptations, because otherwise it gets freezerburnt by the fact that it carries the weight of the Disney name on its shoulders.
It very notably has a different vibe surrounding the entire storyline, making changes to the story that I actually think benefits the movie. Without turning this into an entire essay at 9am before having a Morning Beverage:
I feel like portraying Maurice as an artisan widow and, for the lack of a better term, yassifying him helps make him stand out more as a character to be taken seriously rather than just the wacky inventor in the animated version. Similar goes with LeFou, as Josh Gad's performance as someone who (even if comedically) is unhealthily attached to Gaston, and one who tries to be Gaston's voice of reason, only for that attachment to be used against him later on (Gaston threatening LeFou, leading to his redemption) is also a cool way to be able to take every character seriously and NOT just "comic relief"
There's a lot of subtle details in Belle and Beast's romance that help develop it more in ways I personally enjoy. I like that Beast share's Belle's missing parent storyline, but unlike Belle who had a good soul like Maurice to help her mourn, Beast only had a shitty dad that made him turn out into a beast like him. I also quite like how it's Beast that allows Belle to see into her past life in Paris, and why Maurice had to leave that life behind when she was born; something about helping find Belle closure and Beast's "I'm sorry I ever called your father a thief" just hits really differently
The entire inclusion of "Evermore" in this movie hits in all the right places, when I was a kid I didn't really understand too well why Beast lets Belle go after the ballroom dance (truthfully that could just be chalked up to be being a stupid kid), but having an entire song for Beast to lament that he loves her so much he'll let her go, because she has already made permanent changes to his heart?? Having him go from "Something There" as a duet that showcases his melting heart then "Evermore" that gives him an entire solo to pour his heart out??? Absolutely fantastic in comparison to the animated version having him just roar sadly as he watches her leave
The actual design of Beast isn't that bad, I just think it looks a little uncanny in some aspects where they could've pushed some emotions better. I'd much rather them re-imagine the Beast's look for live action than pull a Pinocchio where his 2D design is kind of really boringly made into hyperrealistic CG.
It doesn't have this stupid frame that singlehandedly ruin the entire magical reveal of the Beast's human form for me in the animated version
I could go on and on about Beauty and the Beast (2017) but yeah that's probably one of my hottest takes
