Film Review: Beauty and the Beast

"Think Of The One Thing That You've Always Wanted. See It In Your Mind's Eye And Feel It In Your Heart..."

As per the norm of a well-spent 1990's childhood, Disney movies were indeed the go-to method of escapism for a younger version of myself in which films like The Lion King and Fantasia were at the forefront of what was all and sacred in the world at that specific moment in time, and whilst the original 1991 animated Disney classic adaptation of Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's famous fairy tale wasn't exactly the top of my list of favourite animations as a young child, Beauty and the Beast has always been arguably one of the most iconic Disney movies to have ever been released, due mainly to the even more iconic soundtrack which even to this day is immediately quotable and enviously recognisable. Following on from the one-two success of both 2015's Cinderella and Jon Favreau's adaptation of The Jungle Book, this year's Disney remake is indeed the famous tale of beauty and beast, this time portrayed by Emma Watson and Legion's Dan Stevens respectively whilst being helmed by director Bill Condon whose previous directorial credits include the good, (Mr. Holmes) the bad, (Candyman 2) and the ugly (Twilight: Breaking Dawn), and whilst this latest version of the classic tale shines brightly in a wide range of different areas, the lack of originality and complete absence of threat reduce it to a movie which is solid but not exactly spectacular. 

Whilst last year's The Jungle Book was a movie which although was aware of the classic songs which encompassed the original Disney classic animation, it too was a film which instead of just rehashing them into a live-action scenario, developed and alternated them enough to both seem wholly organic yet still held a warm sense of appeal for those who loved the original so dearly. With Beauty and the Beast however, Condon's decision to simply cordon the classic songs into his own adaptation does ultimately seem a slight cop out alongside a narrative which note-for-note follows the blueprint of the 1991 animation without ever having the nerve to swerve off-course and offer something utterly different. In the leading role of Belle, Emma Watson does ultimately seem the correct choice for the part, with her innocent and natural beaming sense of joy the epitome of a Disney princess's genetic makeup yet the real fun of the movie is to be had with Luke Evan's Gaston, the egotistic and arrogant killer who makes it his life's duty to take Belle's hand in marriage. Whilst the cast is impressive and the effects are magical in places, this adaptation of the famous tale is indeed beaming with beauty but ultimately lacking in substantial bite. 

Overall Score: 6/10 

This is The End - Quicky Review -SPOILERS-

Here we are at the UK release of This Is The End has finally come.

This review here is going to have too be a quicky review for a few reasons.
1 - I didn't find it funny
2 - I don't like James Franco
3 - You can only write so much on a "Comedy"

So, This is the End is the tale of the world ending and a group of actors are fighting to survive in Franco's new mansion. It's premise is extremely simple and the focus is on the friendship between Jay Baruchel and Seth Rogen. Except of world domination, it becomes American domination and the only way to survive the world ending apocalypse is to do all the drugs possible.

For a 15, this movie is unbelievably bad. With a general audience which looked to be 13, jokes which were penis related (Which had no style) and then the constant barrage of swearing and sexual references didn't fit their target audience and was just an excuse for them to shout at each other. There was also a certain scene which c**t was used, So blatantly that it crossed the line for me. I can deal with swearing and sex jokes but they have to be done in style rather than a general attack. You will also notice something that niggles at you all the way through. Its never attacked, abused or joked about like everything else. It is Heaven and the Bible. A comedy about world destruction turns into a movie that preaches Christianity, America and how drugs are good.

Now, you would think that with such a huge cast, we would have some brilliant actors. Yet we have very little acting. The swearing and screaming doesn't constitute acting and appears to make the movie a piss about project for all of them. However, all the way through, I did feel that they were all horrible people and if that's what they were trying to portray, then they did it right.

The actors I did enjoy were Channing Tatum for his small cameo and Craig Robinson throughout. Craig seemed to be the most genuine of the bunch and had the funny moments that made you laugh

rather than just a smile.

Visually, a movie with a huge budget for actors, should have a decent sized budget for all of the demons and various other evil dwellers. Yet everything seem blurry or pixilated with little time spent on them. The only good bit of VFX was Satan's representation at the end. As much as it was phallic,
it was clear and looked quite genuine.

Overall, I didn't really like the movie, so it is getting 4/10. It was loud and obnoxious without any good jokes to make me laugh. I can understand jokes that the Ted movie uses, as it is all so silly, done with style and all around abusive to everyone, but when you compare it too this, you see that it is incredibly mediocre and dick jokes can only go so far. One of the reasons that I could stand it was the music used throughout. It was varied and even had a Backstreet Boys cameo at the end that was funny. Alongside some good cinematography, it deserves my ranking, but I find it hard to understand many of the critics that are praising it as the comedy of the year.