Contributed By Amanda Jayne Lee
Is Hollywood really that bereft of good material? This “modern remake” of the classic fairytale Beauty And The Beast reeked of poor direction and an even more banal script.
Alex Pettyfer (I Am Number Four) takes on the role of Kyle Kingston, the high school’s Mr. Popular who crosses the line when he offends a fellow student-cum-witch, Kendra (Mary-Kate Olsen). She turns him into a beast and places him under a curse: if he doesn’t find true love by the end of next spring, he’s doomed. In trots the indisputably cute Vanessa Hudgens of High School Musical fame as Kyle’s schoolmate Lindy Taylor, the “beauty” of the story. Drama happens and love blooms.
To be fair, the cast’s performance isn’t that bad. It’s not their fault that their acting is stunted by a weak and laughably predictable plot; the lines, which I will not quote for fear of marring your sensibilities, are entirely cheesy and forgettable. Compared to another recent movie based on a classic tale, the delightful Tangled, Beastly is about as witty as dried bear poo.
The biggest plus point of it all is the charming casting of Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) as Kyle’s stay-home, blind professor who teaches him a few life lessons. And while the film had its moments, it mostly bombed. But just to end things on a not-so-bitter note, I shall merely say that nothing beats the original Disney animated version, which is definitely worth watching again on DVD.
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