Just got back from seeing it.
First impression...I liked it...didn't love it unconditionally...I liked it.
I should probably say that I am a huge, huge fan of the animated version so that is probably clouding my opinion somewhat. I'm always going to do a comparison rather than judging this one on its own merits. But, on to my thoughts.
It looked amazing. The Beast was extremely well done, the other enchanted characters looked enough like their original animated versions but had enough life and character to fit into a real world. I didn’t feel that Gaston had quite the presence that he should have, he needed to be at least a head taller than anyone else. I do wonder ifMadame de Garderobe might be a bit scary for younger kids.
Maybe I’m getting old, maybe it was the theatre where I was seeing it, but I found the lyrics a bit hard to follow at times. I know all the words to all the songs (yeah, I’m a fan) and I was having trouble singing along to myself.
I had been avoiding reading too much prior to seeing it but I was genuinely surprised to see that Belle’s father was played by Kevin Kline. He did a great job.
There were still some problems with timing, the same as the original. Time seems to pass a lot faster or slower depending on where you are. How long did Maurice spend tied up under that tree?
The “controversial” moment with LeFou at the end would only come as a surprise to someone who had been asleep for the rest of the movie.
Greg