Beauty and the Beast

‘Beauty and the Beast’ Review: Even a Tale as Old as Time Can Become New Again
‘Beauty and the Beast’ Review: Even a Tale as Old as Time Can Become New Again
‘Beauty and the Beast’ Review: Even a Tale as Old as Time Can Become New Again
To say that the first trailer for Beauty and the Beast was evocative of the 1991 animated classic would be an understatement; it was a live-action carbon copy, and if Disney’s remake of Cinderella was any indication, we were in for yet another tedious — if visually stunning, well-acted and beautifully-designed — exercise in nostalgia-based capitalism. But Bill Condon’s live-action update of Beauty and the Beast is more reimagining than remake, a lavish and lovely take on a familiar tale (as old as time, no doubt) that enriches its source material without betraying it, embellishing a cherished antique with modern ideas.