Second week and Beauty and the Beast is still dominating box office.

This version of the film is quite similar in structure of the plot.

The film had a strong production design and the large musical set pieces. I can’t think of a musical in a long time that had such satisfyingly staged musical sequences.

Be Our Guest, Belle, and Gaston were the particular highlights. The costumes, dancing and ensemble singing were first rate. It was easy to get swept away in the moments and that’s what you want in a musical.

The film also worked in a lot of humor into the script, which I enjoyed. I found myself laughing quite a bit especially with Lumiere and Cogsworth, a lot of the other characters were also funny.

The biggest problem with the film is in the character design. All of the household objects were difficult to connect with emotionally. Lumiere and Cogsworth were designed in a way that made it difficult to see their faces and expressions.

Mrs. Potts was flat so you had no sense of movement or personality to her. It is all left to the voice cast to sell the emotion and they just couldn’t do it.

The Beast looked like Krampus and his face was flat and dull.

Harry Potter fans will hate me for saying this, but I also found Emma Watson to be flat and wooden in her performance as Belle. There wasn’t much chemistry between the two of them because they were uninteresting and bland, which is a big problem selling this story.

The additions involving Belle’s mother and the Beast’s backstory just did nothing for me. Also the new songs were very forgettable and flat.

Most people will go see Beauty and the Beast and have a great time, and so I have to give Disney credit on that level.

There is entertainment to be had here and I think as a whole it is a harmless movie. Does it live up to the 1991 original film? Of course not but it’s certainly not awful.