The low-down: An adaptation of the Disney fairy tale about a monstrous-looking prince and a young woman who fall in love.

Despite rumour, this isn’t a shot by shot remake of the 1991 Disney classic. Although a lot of the original dialogue, score and musical numbers still feature, it does still have it’s own identity – as a live action copy that works as an idea. But ultimately falls flat because, regardless of the incredible CGI and fresh take, you’ve technically seen and heard it all before.

Highlights are: the utter relief that Emma Watson actually does an alright job as Belle. “I’m not a princess” is spoken with stern authority, and there’s a great moment where she heads off to rescue her dad, and actually discards her iconic yellow princess dress in the wet snow.

The musical numbers are great when bought to life. I especially loved watching Frozen’s Josh Gad as Le Fou, singing to Gaston in the tavern, and the opening number gave me the fuzzies.

But the novelty of it being live action wears off around 30 minutes in, and ultimately you are just watching the same story you saw back as a kid; it’s just visually different.

What it will succeed in, however, is telling the story to a new generation of children, who might not have the attention span to watch an animated feature. Although the kid in me still prefer’s the 90s original.

Rating out of 5: ★★★ and a ½ stars

Words ~ Matt Skingsley

Follow Matt on Instagram @MattSkings and check out his illustration artwork: http://www.mattskingsart.com/