Beastly

My first reaction when seeing the trailer for this film was, "NO! Please don't mess with such classic source material as Beauty and the Beast," most easily recognized in the mega-hit Disney film from 1991. Could such love, emotion, and power captured in my favorite animated film be copied in the 21st century rendition? While "Beastly" did exceed my expectations, it can never compare to the greatness shown in the classic fairy tail.

Meet the popular, handsome, and all around total jackass Kyle Kingson (Alex Pettyfer). One could blame Kyle's cruel attitude on his father who has taught him his whole life that "looks" are the key to success. Because of this idea, Kyle is obsessed with his self image and cruelly makes fun of anyone who he deems ugly. An example is a girl named Kendra (Mary-Kate Olsen). One night, during a party, Kyle runs into Kendra and begins to once again make fun of her looks. Kendra then reveals herself to be a witch and casts a spell on Kyle, taking away his good looks and replacing them with gashes and scars. She explains that Kyle has one year to find another who loves him or else he will remain in his new form forever.

Now forsaken by his prideful father, out of school and alone, save for his maid and his blind tutor (Neil Patrick Harris), Kyle searches longingly for a girl that could see past his outside appearance. Lindy Taylor (Vanessa Hudgens), a student that Kyle once knew, becomes caught up in gang violence because of her father and is in need of protection. When Kyle saves her father from two gunmen, he offers to protect Lindy so that the gang cannot harm her. The father agrees and sends Lindy to Kyle's apartment where Kyle desperately hopes that she will be the one who breaks the spell.

The classic story of "Beauty and the Beast" is a unique and timeless one that I love no matter how it is portrayed. In "Beastly" I enjoyed the ways that the makers of the film manage to revamp the classic story to fit into a modern day Manhattan setting. The transitions of the story and the characters from 18th century France to 21st century New York high school fit well, but the sour-spot came from the lackluster script. The laughable dialogue made it hard to watch most of the film without smirking and ruined the more serious scenes.

As far as acting goes, I believe the two leads did as best they could with the bad script they had to read. Pettyfer and Hudgens are both young actors who I believe have potential if they can manage to choose the right films. In this case, what some might call "bad acting" is really caused by the script...not the actor's ability to act. On the other hand, my favorite part of the film was Neil Patrick Harris' character, Kyle's blind tutor who teaches Kyle more about life than schoolwork. Harris manages to steal every single scene he is in with his wit and humor; and his lines and scenes are the best in the film

But the biggest problem with "Beastly?" Where is the heart and the love that people think of when they think of "Beauty and the Beast." The classic story is about how the two main characters actually come to love each other, but in "Beastly," the so called "love" seems more forced than gained as if Kyle just wants to use any girl to get his looks back. For me, the only time I could feel emotion for a character was when, guess who, Neil Patrick Harris was on the screen (once again, he is the best part of the film).

So does "Beastly" live up to other versions of the "tale as old as time?" Sadly...no. Though the plot and characters are enjoyable, this new tale could never hope to have the emotion, heart, and magic that was shown in the Disney classic. I give it 1.5 stars out of 4.

"Beastly" has a running time of 95 minutes and is rated PG-13 for language including crude comments, brief violence and some thematic material.