Beauty and the Beast, a new movie that came out this spring, is a real life version based off of the fairy tale published in 1740 and its cartoon adaptation.

The movie has become very popular with kids and teens lately, scoring a 71 on Rotten Tomatoes, a popular movie criticizing website, with four stars and earning around $900 in revenue.

The movie is about a princess whose dad goes off into another village to show off an invention, but is chased off by wolves into another kingdom. He finds a castle and inside he sees a red rose that he wants to bring for back for Belle, but he is caught by a creature called the Beast and imprisoned there. Belle ends up imprisoning herself for her dad but falls in love with The Beast despite a man already wanting to marry her, Gaston, who dies in the end.

One thing the movie did well was add quite a bit of contrast to the original animated version. In both movies, Belle and her dad are imprisoned for their loyalty to the Beast, but in the original, it was Belle’s dad’s invention that got them captured in the first place, and a woodchopper that frees them. However, this movie shows her dad picking the lock, and his invention was just a music box.

I also really liked the theme of the movie and how they stressed the insignificance of outside appearance. The Beast is feared by Belle’s kingdom because he is isolated and looks intimidating and scary, but throughout the movie viewers see he is not what his looks suggest he is, and he has a heart. The people are initially so scared of The Beast that Belle and her father are imprisoned just for their association with The Beast.

One thing they could’ve developed more is the suspense factor and plot. There are multiple conflicts presented, but most of them were simple fixes and do not add much to the plot. I would’ve liked to see more suspense in the movie, especially in the climaxes, such as when she’s getting captured, chased by the wolves, or being imprisoned by her own people.

I thought Beauty and the Beast was entertaining, meaningful, and fun, while I also think it is overrated and a little cliche, I still enjoyed watching it and think it was really good overall. I would rate it a 4 out of 5 stars.