Monday, March 14, 2011

Movie Monday - Beastly

Let me point out that the title does not say "Beastly Movie Monday." In fact, today is rather nice. The sun is out. It's above freezing. It's kind of nice. All of which has nothing to do with this week's movie: "Beastly."

Of course, I really don't need to say too much about "Beastly." After all, you already know about 90% of what there is to know about "Beastly." It's the classic "Beauty and the Beast" story. You know: Guy is all about vanity. Guy pisses off the wrong woman. Guy gets turned into a beast and given 1 year for someone to love him in spite of his appearance. Guy gets sung to by the cutlery. (Oh. Wait. That's only in the Disney version.)

But here's the thing: Sometimes, when you go into a situation assuming you know everything, that very same everything can surprise you.

Did the movie bring out new twists and turns that were completely unexpected? No. But did it give some interesting tweaking that was fun? Yes. The "beast" is turned into a beast by one of the Olson twins. Yes. One of those Olson twins. Mary-Kate to be exact. And, you know what? She was good.

The staff in the beast's home had backstories and personalities, too. And, somewhere in the middle of the movie, they really started to matter. And you started to root for them almost as much as for the beast and his love interest.

Oh. About the two central characters - they were fine. Alex Pettyfer did pretty well to give us emotion from under some really incredible special effects make-up. (Honestly, his beast make-up really was cool.) Vanessa Hudgens was perfectly fine as the young woman who got under his skin. Would the movie have survived if they were the only two in it? No. But were they good enough to hold it together? Yes.

So... Would I recommend it? If you're looking for an easy-to-follow romance, then sure.

Overall grade: B. It kept me interested, even knowing how it would end, which - to me - means it was pretty decent.

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