Today a friend of mine invited me to take an extra ticket to Beauty and the Beast his teacher bought for one of her former students who couldn't come. Having heard nice things about the movie from some of my Disneyphile friends, I decided to accept and check it out. Interestingly enough, most English language movies to be shown in China are shown with subtitles, not dubbing. This makes it easy for an American like my self to find something to watch. I couldn't see dubbing working for a musical like Beauty and the Beast since you would have to write Chinese lyrics for all the songs that made sense, fit with the music, and worked with the plot. If you don't like princess movies. you won't like Beauty and the Beast. While it does some things differently and is a bit darker than the animated Disney Princess films it is still unabashedly a princess movie. Beauty and the Beast is most similar to Into the Woods, down to the overall tone and mix of CGI and live action actors. I enjoyed Beauty and the Beast more than Into the Woods though, the plot is more interesting and the songs are better. My biggest issue with Beauty and the Beast is the rather slow beginning. The movie really picks up after Be Our Guest but that happens just after Beauty and the Beast's speed started to annoy me. It is also best if you treat Beauty and the Beast more like an animated film than a live action one. The often overly idealized provincial country village, the outrageously aggressive wolves, and the occasional painfully contrived excuse to continue the plot bothered me a bit when I still though of Beauty and the Beast as a totally live action film. It got into it by the end when I started treating Beauty and the Beast like a Disney Princess movie that just happened to use live actors instead of animation. Overall I enjoyed Beauty and the Beast far more than I thought so I guess I can recommend it.
4 Comments
sharon
3/26/2017 02:49:36 am
do they do the popcorn/snack thing?
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Jared Paul Miller
3/26/2017 12:47:44 pm
Yes, you can get popcorn, candy and Coke just like in the US. They don't seem to do hot food items like pizzas or nachos though. Unlike most theaters in the US, they also serve wine, beer, and bottled cocktails.
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Dad
3/26/2017 03:01:42 am
Glad you saw it, not me. Does not seem like my kind of flick
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gramma M.
3/27/2017 10:03:55 pm
Judging from your comments, "Beauty" would improve in quality and interest if you were a ten year old girl. Still, going to the movies and out to dinner at the same time sounds appealing.
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AuthorI am a junior at Juniata College spending a year studying abroad at East China Normal University. Please feel free to join my on my journey to China and beyond. Archives
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