The ‘tale as old as time’ officially hit theaters once again in a live action after its debut in 1991 as an animation.  This past weekend, people rushed to the movie theaters to see the rejuvenated Disney princess Belle on the big screen, resulting in a box office gross income of over 174 million dollars, according to Rotten Tomatoes.  Generally, the live action movie kept true to the original version resulting in no major changes, but here was some controversy on the supposed ‘gay moment’ in the movie with Gaston’s lackey LeFou played by Josh Gad. 

*Spoiler Alert: turn back now or forever hold your peace*

 The director Bill Condon first mentioned ‘a gay moment’ in an interview with a British publication stating “He (LeFou) is confused about what he wants” romantically.  This led to the movie being shelved in Kuwait, and obtain harsher reviews in Russia, according to The Washington Post.  The controversy aside, there were some doubts about Emma Watson playing Belle, especially with her being recognized in households as Hermione Granger. People wanted to know if this Gryffindor could courageously belt out some lines from iconic Disney songs such as ‘Belle’. In an interview with the Telegraph, Watson commented, “I sing, so that’s really unexpected”.  According to the New York Times a 90 second teaser trailer for the movie generated a record 92 million views its first day online… That’s more attention than “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” got according to the New York Times as well.

So, is it good or bad?   Worth my time? or not?

Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie a review of 70%. Out of 224 reviews counted 157 of them were fresh and the other 67 were labeled as rotten by critics.  Although the audience review is at 86%. Not all are ‘ever just as sure’ that the movie is as good as the original but, if you want, go see it.  Do you think it’s a beauty or a beast?