Maleficent is the
Disney Movie of the Month. The live-action Beauty
and the Beast is out now. It was inevitable that I wrote a post about these
two movies!
I’ve previously talked about my feelings on Disney’s live-action remakes. I think that if they’re done well then it’s a great idea. As I said in
my initial post, I enjoyed Maleficent
and as I briefly mentioned in my post about what’s been happening lately that I
really liked the new Beauty and the Beast.
Beauty and the Beast
represents something new for Disney’s live action remakes in that it is the
first one which is a musical. However it’s interesting that – as my friends and
I were saying afterwards - the way the songs were arranged and presented in Beauty and the Beast felt more like a
stage musical than a traditional Disney musical. I also mentioned in my post on Maleficent that I felt the structure
was quite play-like. It’s interesting how live action is bringing out such a
strong element of theatricality in these stories.
Maleficent and Beauty and the Beast both have really
compelling protagonists. Angelina Jolie was great as Maleficent, her
performance really delivered on all the emotional notes that were needed to
turn a villain into a sympathetic character. But she was also excellent at the
moments of camp arch villainy. Emma Watson delivered a wonderful performance as
Belle. She felt truly believable as an intelligent young woman who wants more
out of life.
One thing that real stands out and impresses me about both of
these movies is the quality of the CGI. Obviously because Disney is such a big
company they can afford really good CGI but that doesn’t make the visual
effects any less impressive. From dragons and vast fairy-tale landscapes to the
Beast and the enchanted objects, realisation of the CGI elements and the
blending of live-action and CGI in both films is amazing. They really do a good
job of bringing the most fantastical elements of the hand drawn animations to
life.
Another thing that really stands out for both these movies -
and this also applies to Cinderella -
is that they have a really strong look. The fairy-tale world that is being
realised on screen has a distinctive aesthetic and is really engaging for the
viewer to watch. I hope this trend of the live action remakes being visual
treats is one that is going to continue for as long as Disney keep remaking
their archive.
I feel that in doing Beauty
and the Beast Disney has learnt a big lesson from Maleficent. One of my
biggest problems with Maleficent was
its loyalty the source material which lead to the inclusion of Prince Phillip
and the Three Good Fairies who really were not needed. If you’re going to include things because
they were there in the original then just make sure they’re needed. Beauty and the Beast certainly managed
this, it didn’t feel like anyone or anything was superfluous.
Basically Beauty and the Beast and Maleficent
are both very enjoyable movies and I like both of them. They’re tonally very
different but that works for the different stories that they’re trying to tell.
Disney are showing no signs of stopping on the remakes but if they can keep up
the good work then I’m not worried.
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