Alex Pettyrfer stars as Kyle/Hunter (aka the Beast). He's vain, he's elected President of the Green Committee, he cares more looks than anyone, he's basically a jerk - only no one will tell him to his face. When he humiliates Kendra (Mary Kate Olsen) in front of everyone at the Green Committee dance, she puts a spell on him - turning him more intriguing looking than hideous actually. While the scars look like they're filled with frozen blood and silver lines snake across his face, he looks more strange than our notion of ugly.
He actually meets Lindy (Vanessa Hudgens aka 'Beauty') in school so he already knows her, and when he runs into her again at a Halloween dance where she doesn't recognize him, her comments about him made him interested in her. He follows her, watching her room from the street. He watches her and watches her. Until one night she searches for her father, finding him being threatened by two drug dealers he owes money to. Kyle steps in, Lindy's father shoots one of the dealers, and Lindy's life is in danger when the other crook makes his threat before disappearing into the night.
Kyle convinces Lindy's father to let Lindy live with him so he can protect her. Lindy is not happy about this. Kyle then proceeds to woo Lindy - first with material items she has no interest in until his housekeeper teaches him to think with his heart. From there romance starts to bloom, but she uses the F word to describe him - FRIEND. It gets to a point where he has to let her go, professes his love in vain, ignores her calls, and then gets convinced that he has to go to her before she leaves on the school trip to Macchu Picchu. She professes her love just in time, leaves. He walks away and becomes beautiful again. She runs back out searching for Hunter (his "Beast" name), doesn't believe his story, calls his cell (or rather Hunter's). The phone rings and she becomes crystal clear he was Hunter all along.
Wow - if you're a pre-teen or a teen, you'll probably go for this. I've come across several good reviews on this film, but sadly I'm not in agreement of all the praises heaped on this film. Despite what is a likely scenario in terms of location and characters, the plot is too contrived and cliche for the most part. Beats are placed in too deliberately to mimic moments in the Disney original. When Lindy refuses the lavish gifts, Hunter throws a fit. Fit after fit after fit.
Perhaps it all started off on the wrong foot when Kyle and Lindy first interact at school. He actually is interested in her. Would it not have been more interesting if she wasn't that beautiful to start? That aside, he follows her like he's stalking her in a non-threatening way before bringing her to his house. The whole reason he is able to take her in - I don't really buy. Sure her dad can be a drug addict, but I honestly didn't feel her life was really in danger. The drug dealer scene should've been kicked up a notch.
The romancing starts off comedic, more "haha" though than the original's HA. Lindy is less afraid of him, feels less contempt for him than Belle was of Beast. They become friends pretty easily - but perhaps that's the nature of today's world. Things get blooming and then of course he must let Lindy go because her father ODs. Unfortunately we don't see her father enough to really care about their relationship, sad but true. He professes his love with a letter, which actually is a bit sweet, but she only reads this after she tells him he's a good FRIEND. Plotwise this helps keep things moving. When he makes the decision to show up at his old school to talk to her before she leaves, its anticlimactic. He's not shunned as much as the original Beast is. He lets her go again yes, and she realizes she loves him...of course as contrived goes, the rest of it well is just that.
The other main issue I had with this was characterization. We learn a lot about Kyle though there's room to know more. We actually don't really know that much about Lindy beyond a little more than skin deep. At times she comes across as a spoiled brat who wants to go to Peru to escape her problems at home. We didn't really care for them, like we did for the real Belle and Beast. Neil Patrick Harris' Will is a fun character, standing in for Lumiere, while Lisa Gay Hamilton's Zola takes on Mrs Potts. While her character is introduced early on - her sudden attitude change to encourage Kyle is a bit surprising. At times, they seem to just fill space and time, moving our main character farther. Mary Kate Olsen did a pretty good job as the witch. Hard to believe she went from student to well, intern. Less is more - would be more interesting if she watched more from the shadows at school and spoke less, rather than outright taunting him prior to placing the spell.
Since most of us already know the plot, the key to this film is the deep characterization that never materializes. Yes, it's modern day, but what is it about these characters that they in fact can be timeless no matter what day and age. The only good comment I have is when Lindy says there was something about Kyle, that she admired him for saying things the way he saw it. It falls a little flat from there. Show us more of Lindy's story, how is she supposed to grow as a person other than "finding love" with the guy she actually already had a crush on? Beauty and the Beast had two strong characters with two strong character arcs. Beastly - two characters who are moving along.
So eat your popcorn, laugh, and watch the credits. Best part? Kyle's father's new intern. Maybe I just like the original version to much, but that's exactly what sets a higher bar for storytelling. Take the original, make it even better.
2.5/5
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