Movie Review Time!
So I saw the movie Beastly in theaters yesterday. Went with my sister and her friend, but they didn't sit by me (which was totally fine since they were late to the movie anyway and talked throughout it). I was pretty excited because it was basically a modern day update to Beauty and the Beast, which is one of my favorite Disney movies, and it had a Phantom-y element of funny-looking stalker falling in love with a pretty girl and then imprisoning her in his home and awkwardly trying to impress her. The only problem was that neither of the two main characters had any significant believable character development, or even character to start with. 'The Beast', whose name is Kyle in this version, starts off as a pretty, rich jerk then, after a brief interlude of freaking out due to his unexpected Tattoo Job of Doom, suddenly becomes a kind and caring person. 'The Beauty', named Lindy, was a quiet nerdy granola girl, very similar to the character that Vanessa Hudgens played in High School Musical. She doesn't really change at all over the course of the film. The side characters were easily the best part of the movie, particularly the hilarious blind tutor played by Neil Patrick Harris. I seriously want a teacher like that, if only so I could stare longingly at him and enjoy his frequent wisecracks. Wassup?!
I totally get the need to have the beast turned back to normal at the end of the film (although I believe he was technically out of time, so what was up with that?), but I did not enjoy the miracle happy ending that the Jamaican housekeeper and the tutor got. I know it's a pointless thing to think about in a stupid teenage romance movie, but I was annoyed because life doesn't work like that. People don't miraculously get green cards for their children or regain their sight because they were lucky enough to get caught up in some magical weirdness. It was completely unconnected to the main plot of the love story, and unnecessary. Not that I want the characters to be miserable, but people in real life have to do things the hard way and they have to deal with their shit. It almost seems like this is changing the moral of the story to something like "If you're pretty, then not only do you get the girl, but you improve the lives of everyone around you just because they knew you."
I'm probably thinking way too much into this. The movie wasn't really as bad as I just made it sound. It was moderately enjoyable, at least. The dialogue was also rather unrealistic, but you can't have everything, right?
I totally get the need to have the beast turned back to normal at the end of the film (although I believe he was technically out of time, so what was up with that?), but I did not enjoy the miracle happy ending that the Jamaican housekeeper and the tutor got. I know it's a pointless thing to think about in a stupid teenage romance movie, but I was annoyed because life doesn't work like that. People don't miraculously get green cards for their children or regain their sight because they were lucky enough to get caught up in some magical weirdness. It was completely unconnected to the main plot of the love story, and unnecessary. Not that I want the characters to be miserable, but people in real life have to do things the hard way and they have to deal with their shit. It almost seems like this is changing the moral of the story to something like "If you're pretty, then not only do you get the girl, but you improve the lives of everyone around you just because they knew you."
I'm probably thinking way too much into this. The movie wasn't really as bad as I just made it sound. It was moderately enjoyable, at least. The dialogue was also rather unrealistic, but you can't have everything, right?