As the credits roll, and Celine Dion sings, then Ariana Grande with John Legend, culminating with Josh Groban, I find myself surprised to have been won over. Most of the movie, I found myself struggling with the dissonance between CGI and live action (usually just Emma Watson). I kept thinking, "Why bother? The animated version was a classic, not to be bested!" It wasn't working for me, an iconic romance without the chemistry of a living beast. It was settling into a 5 (meh) out of 10. But, Emma sparkled every time she was on screen, and then, the new musical numbers were poignant and beautiful, filling in the story (in this version it was as much of a journey of transformation for Belle as it was for the Beast). And, then in the final scenes I was hooked by the cumulative effect. Stellar cast, impressive CGI, augmented storytelling, and soaring, exceptional, big-production music. I ended up giving it a 7 (good) out of 10, and, downloaded the extended soundtrack from iTunes,
Shout by Nancy L Draper
VIP8BlockedParent2017-06-21T02:31:09Z
As the credits roll, and Celine Dion sings, then Ariana Grande with John Legend, culminating with Josh Groban, I find myself surprised to have been won over. Most of the movie, I found myself struggling with the dissonance between CGI and live action (usually just Emma Watson). I kept thinking, "Why bother? The animated version was a classic, not to be bested!" It wasn't working for me, an iconic romance without the chemistry of a living beast. It was settling into a 5 (meh) out of 10. But, Emma sparkled every time she was on screen, and then, the new musical numbers were poignant and beautiful, filling in the story (in this version it was as much of a journey of transformation for Belle as it was for the Beast). And, then in the final scenes I was hooked by the cumulative effect. Stellar cast, impressive CGI, augmented storytelling, and soaring, exceptional, big-production music. I ended up giving it a 7 (good) out of 10, and, downloaded the extended soundtrack from iTunes,