Beauty and the Beast
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | Release Date: March 17, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 47 Critic Reviews
Positive:
30
Mixed:
16
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
40
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternMar 16, 2017
In the new film beauty is sought, and seldom found, in glitzy surfaces. Enchantment is chased, and never captured, in extravagant set pieces that owe less to fairy-tale tradition than to Cirque du Soleil grandiosity. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy BurrMar 16, 2017
In short, there’s plenty of spectacle in Beauty and the Beast, which will be enough for many if not most young audiences. But there isn’t much magic, and what there is coasts on 26-year-old fumes. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Mar 15, 2017
Shiny but not exactly new, Bill Condon’s live-action Beauty And The Beast is a curious nostalgia object, synthetically engineered to reproduce all the same sensations as a 26-year-old movie. Read full review
50
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallMar 15, 2017
With each musical reprise and imitated frame, Condon continues a fight of comparisons he can't win. Either imitate a classic faithfully or leave out the songs and make your own version. Or just leave perfection alone. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMar 15, 2017
The problems here, I think, are weirdly simple. The movie takes our knowledge and our interest in the material for granted. It zips from one number to another, throwing a ton of frenetically edited eye candy at the screen, charmlessly. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangMar 14, 2017
This isn’t just a remake; it’s an act of cinematic upholstery, with all the padding that implies. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawMar 11, 2017
The whole movie is lit in that fascinatingly artificial honeyglow light, and it runs smoothly on rails – the kind of rails that bring in and out the stage sets for the lucrative Broadway touring version. Read full review
50
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlMar 11, 2017
The clock, Cogsworth, serves as a perfect metaphor for the production itself: The movie’s just as poky and lumbering as he is while huffing up the staircase to escort Belle to her bedroom. Read full review
50
ConsequenceBlake GobleMar 3, 2017
The movie is like a second verse, sung a little louder and just a little bit worse. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Emily YoshidaMar 3, 2017
After a couple musical numbers, it occurs to you that the film you’re watching is every bit as animated as the original, but it’s somehow turned out less lifelike, despite its considerable technological advantage. Read full review
50
The Film StageJordan RaupMar 3, 2017
Never genuinely thrilling or sincerely hilarious, Beauty and the Beast ho-hums along until the next needle drop of a prominent musical cue. If Disney believes these tales are as old as time, they ought to have a better reason for bringing them back to life than unimaginatively cashing in on nostalgia. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinMar 3, 2017
It’s a Michelin-triple-starred master class in patisserie skills that transforms the cinematic equivalent of a sugar rush into a kind of crystal meth-like narcotic high that lasts about two hours. Only once viewers have come down and digested it all might they feel like the whole experience was actually a little bland, lacking in depth and so effervescent as to be almost instantly forgettable. Read full review
42
The PlaylistRodrigo PerezMar 3, 2017
Ultimately Beauty And The Beast feels like a cynical rehash seemingly created just to make a fiscal year sound promising to shareholders. This is a product that’s more manufactured than inspired. Read full review
50
IndieWireJude DryMar 3, 2017
Aside from the thrill of its lavish sets and costumes, there isn’t much new to offer in this Beauty and the Beast. Read full review
45
TheWrapDan CallahanMar 3, 2017
This new mainly live-action Disney version of the oft-told story directed by Bill Condon feels largely perfunctory. Where it flounders most is on the miscasting of several crucial roles. Read full review
60
We Got This CoveredMatt DonatoMar 3, 2017
Beauty And The Beast lacks some of the astonishing visual prowess of previous Disney live-action remakes, but still sings and dances with enjoyable style. Read full review
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