Reel Review: Beastly is a 2011 romantic fantasy film based on Alex Flinn’s 2007 novel of the same name. It is a retelling of the fairytale Beauty and the Beast set in modern-day New York City. The film is written and directed by Daniel Barnz and stars Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer. Beastly was distributed by CBS Films and released last March 4, 2011.
What’s Inside: Seventeen year old Kyle (Alex Pettyfer) is the spoiled, shallow and incredibly popular prince of his high school kingdom. Entirely captivated and empowered by his own physical appearance, Kyle foolishly chooses Kendra (Mary-Kate Olsen), a goth classmate rumored to be a witch, as his latest target for humiliation. Unfazed by his cruel behavior, Kendra decides to teach him a lesson – she transforms him into someone as unattractive as he was inside.
Wrapping It Up: This film has so much potential at start. While most teen romance movies recently have all these angst and unconformity to soceity, Beastly manages to keep things light. While there are genuine moments of comedy, the romance and acting from the leads generally feels lacking, which is the heart and soul of the film. This makes the viewer see the flaws in the characters more instead of marveling at a good storyline. The film is generally good but it lacks the passion-factor of what the original Beauty and the Beast was. The film is ultimately uneven. The shame is that the film succeeds in unexpected ways, but the parts that should have worked fall flat.