Spoilers

a long time ago, when we were poor with no jobs or badly paid part time jobs & we could afford between us to buy a dvd a month to watch with our friends & have a film night, my friend purchased Beastly, the modern updated dramatization of Beauty & the Beast. I havent seen this film for about 8 years but i know we always would put it on at my friends after watching another film & sit there going isnt this just lovely as we ate the vodka jellies we had made earlier. I will always be thankful for this film & the friends it secured me with to this day. So lets see if its awkward without them or if it is still quite cool & a good take on the original.

So it pretty much follows the exact same story of beauty in the beast, apart from we see the Beast in his human form before he is transformed, & he just overly tattooed & has some scars instead of being turned into a lion bear thing. He has also met the girl before the transformation too & we see some people in his life who are even uglier than he is. But other than that its the same.

Alex Pettyfer is always stupidly handsome he really is so even with the extra in & the shaved head when he becomes the beast you still sit there looking at that body & those beautiful eyes, & just go yea, i still would mate. He deals with both being the arrogant dick at the start of the film, the why has this happened to me bratty phase & the oh man ive had an epiphany faze very well. Thats a lot to go through & to carry them all off too.

Vanessa Hudson is okay, but its only in the last scene in the film after hes ripped his soul out for her where she actually shows any chemistry with him at all. Alex is trying but shes just busy being too oh good everything over right up to that point. Even in the zoo, or the greenhouse, or the gardens nothing, nothing at all. & then bang those letter & him turning up at school & shes obsessed. She was very in at the time so thats clearly why she was cast in the role to get bums on seats.

I always forget until the film starts that its Neil Patrick Harris as the teacher & then im just like OMG its NPH!!!! & he brings it as the blind tutor, hes got all the best line & all the sass & he is brilliant. Seriously with out his little side comments about well your life could be worse mate, you could be me are amazing & especially as he has something he can do about it too. Brilliant.

Mary Kate as the witch was clever too, but shes not in it enough to make that feel like a worth while casting if im honest. Her being evil for all of the 5 mins shes on screen at 4 different parts of the film isnt worth it. I mean it helps with the life lesson which is in all the films (its whats on the inside that counts but not the outside), but still.

So some of his tattoos are bad i get that (along with the scars) however some of them are bloody clever & someone had to come up with that, which is worth bowing too. The moving Tattoo instead of the rose is cool, but when his time runs out a good 2mins before she confesses her feelings & he the turns back much later after that, thats a bit of a hang on. Maybe for once the film would have taught us that being like that was fine & then not had the switch back. The time was clearly up, make him ugly teen movie.

I know teenagers are aggie & are dicks & everything but not one of these teenagers or people pretending to be a teenager in this film are even remotely nice at all, they all have a hidden horrendous agenda. So maybe they should have all been made ugly.

His dads the worst tho. He is the worst kind of parenting in a film ever. Like Charlie from Twilight would just look at him & be like you dick fuck off, thats not how you parent at all. Im glad we assume he gets his comeuppance at the end.

The green house is bloody beautiful it really is, it really really is. I love it. ITs magical & just brings the whole films vibe down & makes it so serene & romantic & you just sit there & watch it & feel awww im watching a good film here..

Her father situation was weird he was in trouble, he killed a guy so he took his daughter to protect them, but then lets her go as soon as hes sick & not even been attacked by the bad guys straight away & then hes not mentioned again. ITs a very contrived way to get her to go stay with him. This is why i prefer the alternative ending on the DVD, when she goes to see him in hospital shes kidnapped by the bad guys, so he goes after her & fight them but dies. Her true loves kiss much like the original brings him back to life & to his normal self & everyone sees he has saved the day. Again all after his time is up as well. Much better ending not oh im off on a school trip bye & i think i fancy you moment.

because he doesnt want anyone to see him he does a lot of going out at night which is fine, however there are points where it is so dark & badly shoot you cant really see whats going on.

I still enjoyed this film, but i think it was for being more nostalgia at remembering watching it with my friends then the actually story itself. It is a tale as old as time & its a good modern version of it, but lets be honest, if you want to watch Beauty & the Beast…. watch actual Beauty & the Beast.