Beastly (2011) User Reviews

Mediocre, at best.

[OtakuMegan · 4/10 · 5 March 2011]

I wasn't planning on seeing this movie, but after a group of girlfriends convinced me it would be a good chick flick, I caved.

Going into this movie, I haven't read the book, just seen the Disney movie quite a few times. I was expecting this tragic love story, just like the original movie, with plenty of tear-jerking moments, but it just wasn't there, in terms of script and acting.

The plot was rushed, and therefore the audience didn't have enough time to appreciate the story line, even though we all know it like the back of our hands.

Our Beast, Kyle, was more of a brat than a beast, and even after transforming, I was expecting this monster of rage, and he just whined and moaned and was more comedic than anything else.

Lindy, who was our Beauty, really only stood as a placeholder for a gorgeous woman. Vanessa Hudgens is a gorgeous girl, but that's really all she is. Her acting is very flat, with one moment standing out in particular. She's just been told some devastating news over the phone in a conversation that lasts all of 10 seconds. Acting 101: Acting is the reality of doing, she just pretended, and there's no two ways about it. I didn't see a role model to young girls in her, I just saw a pretty face.

However, there were some exceptions, Neil Patrick Harris was impeccable with his comedic timing, and really saved this movie from otherwise getting a 1 star. Mary Kate Olsen also pleasantly surprised me, as she was good at convincing me she was this evil enchantress. However, for her entire time in the movie, she looks like a haute couture model rather than this disgusting ugly creature.

Overall, it's not terrible, just not that good. Neil Patrick Harris is reason enough alone to see this movie, and to get a look into what some consider "21st Century Beauty and the Beast."

A Contemporary Teen-Version of The Beauty and the Beast

[claudio_carvalho · 5/10 · 31 March 2012]

In the Buckeston Academy High School, the wealthy, arrogant, narcissist and bigot Kyle Kingson (Alex Pettyfer) is a student that does not respect his classmates. When Kyle is elected representative of the students, he plays a prank with the outcast Kendra (Mary-Kate Olsen) that has the fame of being a witch. He invites her to a party and humiliates her in front of their classmates. However, Kendra curses him with a spell that makes Kyle as ugly as his soul. Further, she tells that if he does not find anyone who loves him within a year, he will be doomed to that appearance forever.

When Kyle's father Rob Kingson (Peter Krause) sees him, he takes Kyle to specialists but the doctors do not know what to do. So Rob hides Kyle in an apartment with a maid and a blind tutor. When Kyle sees his mate Lindy (Vanessa Hudgens) on the streets, he saves her from a dangerous drug dealer and he brings her to his apartment to protect her. Now his only hope is that Lindy falls in love with him.

"Beastly" is a contemporary teen-version of "The Beauty and the Beast". The ridiculous make-up on Alex Pettyfer is the weakest part of the film. Vanessa Hudgens is not a beautiful actress and is very weak for the lead role. Further, she does not show any chemistry with Alex Pettyfer. The plot is weird and the way that Lindy is forced to move to the Hunter's apartment through blackmail of her father does not convince.

The plot has many flaws but "Beastly" is neither the best nor the worst romance recently released and there are many unfair reviews in IMDb. Despite the flaws, this film actually entertains on DVD. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "A Fera" ("The Beast")

Big disappointment

[zarajasmin1586 · 3/10 · 7 March 2011]

I was so looking forward to this movie and was so sad that I was disappointed it wasn't quite up to expectations. I did not read the book but I saw the trailer for this a few months back and Beauty and the Beast had always been my favourite Disney movie. A modern retelling, good-looking leads, gorgeous cinematography and Neil Patrick Harris? Perfect ingredient for a good old romance movie, I'd say.

But I was wrong. The movie even started on the wrong foot, with Alex Pettyfer's dismal acting. Maybe he's been doing so many action movies that putting on the skin of a romantic lead was a little hard. His portrayal of the vain, selfish and mean lead was unconvincing at best. Now, the best part of Beast's transformation was the coming-of-age of the spoiled 'prince' into a rage-filled beast and finally into a selfless man transformed by love. None of that were evident in Kyle Kingson. He was a brat, then a whiny stalker, and finally an emo dude.

Vanessa Hudgens also gave a cringe-worthy performance. She was so flat and void of personality that it was painful to watch. Beside the bad acting, the plot was also a little draggy, lacking in climax and real emotion. You don't feel drawn to the characters, you don't feel convinced by the emotions and you will cringe at the incredibly cheesy lines. In fact, my sister and I kept mumbling 'Don't say it! Don't say it!" throughout the movie because a clichéd one-liner is always around the corner.

The one saving grace was Neil Patrick Harris, but that's only because he brought his 'Barney Stinson' persona into the movie. Though I absolutely adore Barney, it would be nice to see NPH bring something different to the plate.

All in all, I'd say watch this movie if you're looking for style, but don't go looking for substance. There's not much to be had.

Beauty and the.... Now thats what I call a Beast

[rooprect · 7/10 · 1 February 2020]

This is one of the cleverest adaptations of a classic fable since "The Nutty Professor" (Jekyll & Hyde). Here in "Beastly" we have an adaptation of "Beauty and the Beast" set in contemporary New York and revolving around the image-obsessed youth of a fashionable High School in the trendy urban district. I know, right? Awesome premise. The execution may not be quite as awesome, but ultimately I think it's a great flick to watch when you're in the mood for a creative morality play.

What makes it work is the depiction of the "Beast". I won't ruin it for you (if the movie posters haven't already), but here, unlike other tellings of the tale which portray the Beast as a majestic animal, we get a Beast who is not only "ugly" in terms of scars and bad skin, but more importantly he is made to look like an outcast. He doesn't look like a literal beast/monster, but instead he looks very human but the kind of human who would make you cross the street to avoid.

In that respect it turns the microscope on ourselves because we the audience are repulsed without any justification. I thought this was a fantastic starting point.

The rest of the film may feel sort of like a predictable teen romance, without much tension or or peril, but it keeps our attention and gives us thoughts which we can apply directly to our lives, unlike typical enchanted fairytales which we approach as pure fantasy.

Beyond the predictable, there's one character who really livened things up and I wish there were more of him: "Will" played by Neil Patrick Harris (yes! Doogie Howser M.D.). Will plays the role of the Beast's sarcastic, wisecracking teacher. This gives the story an element of humor and wisdom at the same time, as Will is sort of the Beast's "Mr. Miagi".

"Beastly" is mostly family-friendly (PG-13 due to some violence and a bit of crude language, though I don't remember hearing any outright profanity). So don't expect a harsh, gritty drama. This film is definitely on the lighter side. Movies I would compare this to include: Penelope (2006) starring Christina Ricci as a girl with a pig snout, or maybe something like Practical Magic (1998) starring Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock as two witches looking for love in a small town. If you like breezy supernatural romances, definitely check this out.

It takes a teenager to admire this movie, perhaps

[anngeewoo · 1/10 · 4 April 2011]

Didn't knew it's based on a novel before I saw the movie, and didn't know it's such a teen movie - pretty faces, college scenes - it makes me relate to Twilight, the storyline starts with how perfect the leading boy looks and leading girl seems to be mediocre only.

I didn't expect anything before the movie, I just saw the poster and found it interesting, thought it'd be some kind of a romance to have a girl falling in love with such a scar-faced man.

But the story didn't convince me how the beast and the beauty fall in love. To me, it just seems to be "written" in such way, Kyle and Lindy are just performing their roles as written in the screenplay, with not much emotions involved in acting. I don't see Kyle getting much upset turning from such flawless face (as he thought) to a seriously scar-faced; and Lindy not being surprised when she saw Kyle's face - as Hunter, a total stranger - this just doesn't quite make sense. I think the acting plays an important role in terms of touching audience's emotions and connection to the movie, but the casts in Beastly fail in such area. The leading casts maybe good with simple teen love story, but the storyline in Beastly seems to be a heavy topic for them to handle, so now it just appears to be a shallow love movie with no sentiments triggered.

More beast than beauty

[JohnDeSando · 4 March 2011]

"If he could learn to love another, and earn her love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken. If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time." Disney's Beauty and the Beast

After the Twilight Series, I am Number Four, and now Beastly, I'm not sure I ever want to take that Hot Tub Time Machine back to those love-weary days. I mean, are these kids getting any love these days, or is their passion filtering through cell phones as their fingers do the walking rather than the stroking? Beastly once again shows teen longing relieved by the workings of magic, not old-fashioned getting-to-know you stuff their grandparents labored through.

Kyle (Alex Pettyfer straight from his boring turn as a hunk with little affect in I am Number Four) learns from his distant dad that looks are what count in life. As he imputes this "aggressively-unattractive" characterization to Goth Kendra (Mary-Kate Olsen), she condemns him to being all he hates, largely ugly, until someone says "I love you" to him.

Beauty waiting to be rescued, Lindy (Vanessa Hudgens), falls into the protective custody of now ugly Beast, Hunter (Kyle). And there you have Beauty and the Beast revived for 2011 teens. Dramatically the audience can anticipate every outcome, not just because of the adapted classic's well-worn story, but because the dialogue is pedestrian enough to telescope it all anyway.

The blind tutor, Will (Neil Patrick Harris), has some wry commentary, suited to the off-beat characters Harris usually plays, that saves this adolescent sentimental claptrap from my damnation. I get it that beauty is from within; I just don't buy why all the teens should be hot when most in real life are pimpled and gawky. It's too bad some wizardry couldn't save Beastly from mediocrity—but then I would need resuscitation that I finally had a teen weeper worthy of an audience smarter than filmmakers give them credit.

Read the Book, Don't See the Movie

[mickeyblue264 · 3/10 · 4 March 2011]

I was so excited to see this movie after hearing about it. I loved the book and was extremely excited for the movie. That movie was so far from the book they could have renamed it. The movie had strong characters but a weak plot and barely any climax. Compared to the book, that was a complete butchering of the story. They cut out some extremely important events within the book. The ending was completely ruined. It was supposed to be full of suspense and adventure, excitement and nerve. The movies ending was dull and pointless. It was completely changed from the events that happened to the location of the events. THE NAMES IN THE MOVIE WEREN'T EVEN RIGHT!! I was disappointed. Basing it an a movie stand point, and not compared to the book, it was okay. Boring and cute. A basic romance. Nothing to special. Definitely not something I would see again. I was extremely disappointed with this movie. I would have thought it would have been better since they postponed the release date for half a year. If you ask me, wait for the DVD and don't waste your money.

My teenage girls love it

[cg_angels · 6/10 · 23 March 2011]

My girls begged me to take them to see this movie as they are big fans of Vanessa Hudgens, Alex Pettyfer and Mary-Kate Olsen. As young teenagers of 13, they both loved the movie and would rate it 9 out of 10. I however, will rate it a 6. My favourite character was Neil Patrick Harris (Will), the blind tutor.... he made me laugh at almost all the scenes he was in.

I did enjoy some of the characters, and Vanessa was very convincing as Lindy, and played her part well. I enjoyed Mary-Kate's character as, Kendra. It was fun seeing her in a different acting role then the many years of having watched her on Full House and all those cute Olson Twin movies. So all in all, I enjoyed my evening out with my girls. Please keep in mind that we did not know this movie was based on a book, which is probably why my girls enjoyed it so much.

Waste of money and time

[iluvskittles1983 · 3/10 · 4 March 2011]

The plot was great, being though it was the modern take on beauty and the beast. However, the script was terrible. Everything seemed so rushed.

Kyle wasn't even arrogant long enough. He made one or two rude comments and next thing you know he turned beastly. In fact I didn't realize he was being rude until like seconds to minutes later. That's how cheesy his lines were. And on top of that, he started falling in love with her before he was turned beastly which totally contradicts the whole point of him being that way. He's supposed to be ugly inside and out.

Liddy or, whatever her name is, wasn't turned off by him like Belle was in the animated version. She couldn't stand him whereas Liddy liked him from the beginning. She called him a jerk once but that didn't even sound convincing. So corny. The fight scene where Kyle calls himself saving her was so bad I was nearly in tears from laughing. What a shame because the concept of the movie was so awesome and this could've been a really great movie.

Bottom line, it was a waste of money, gas and time. I could've waited until this came out on Netflix. Sorry but this movie was just terrible!

Beautiful

[denbra99 · 10/10 · 21 August 2014]

I don't even like love stories.... this was a fantastic movie!!! I saw I am Number Four and I loved it so i thought i should check out Beastly, was expecting a bad romance, especially because i didn't even like romances, Im more of a sci-fi action kind of guy, but i was very surprised! this movie was amazing! I found the movie on you tube actually while searching for the trailer and decided to check it out! definitely worth it! 9.5/10 --------- ____________ ------------ ______________ ----------------- _________________ ------------ ____________ -------------- ____________ --------------- ____________ ---- --------------- _______________ -------------------- _____________ ------- ----------- ______________ ----------------- _____________

Highly anticipated and deeply disappointing

[mcs-995-841390 · 3/10 · 7 March 2011]

For months I've wanted to see this movie and when it was all said and done I couldn't have been more disappointed! BEASTLY is a slow moving, almost boring film with very few mentionable moments.There is no real chemistry between the actors really. Throughout the entire film I hoped for a spark, a great moment or something...but there really were none. My husband actually started snoring next to me at one point. I have read that this films release had been pushed back twice before CBS finally gave the green light. After seeing it, I now understand the reasons behind it. Disney's Beauty and the Beast was far more interesting and much more entertaining than this version. I would say over all it is a movie that should be watched on a rainy afternoon after it's been released on DVD. As a side note, the Soundtrack is worth mentioning and quite possibly one of the better parts of the film.

Beauty and the Bomb

[tdevereaux · 2/10 · 7 March 2011]

'Beastly' was nothing more than a series of random and poorly collected scenes. There was very little original style with flimsy one dimensional characters. I liked the concept and was looking forward to a modern telling of the story. What I got was a empty shell of a story that had absolutely no substance.

From beginning to end there was nothing compelling or interesting about the characters. You never cared about what happened because you never care about the characters. The acting is flat and the writing is without direction.

When the end finally arrives you aren't surprised by what happens. The story had no beginning, middle and end. It just had a start and stop. It's like a boring person telling you a story. You can tell it might be interesting, if only you were being told by someone with a little skill and personality. I just hope the book isn't this bad.

A modern retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" that disappoints

[neenahhh · 5/10 · 27 April 2011]

I watched this movie on a whim. Two of my friends asked if I wanted to go out and watch this movie, and since I had nothing better to do, I said yes. I didn't think this movie would be that bad since people have called it the 'newer and more modern version' of "Beauty and the Beast". They didn't add that it fails at doing so.

Kyle was born handsome and has had everything handed to him on a silver platter since. One night, he offends an enchantress which leads her to cursing Kyle and turning him into a beast. In order to break the curse, Kyle must find someone who'll love him despite his looks before the last flower of spring blooms.

"Beastly"'s plot is a lot similar to that of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast", but I'm afraid that "Beastly" just doesn't compare to the magic and emotions that "Beauty and the Beast" shared with its audience. Alex Pettyfer and Vanessa Hudgens, while being well-known actors, just don't commit here. Their acting, particularly Hudgens', felt flat. On screen, they did make a cute couple, but that was all it was. They just looked good together. For me, I thought that there was no build-up and not enough back story for their romance to feel real. Disney's Belle and the Beast did a far better job than them.

Neil Patrick Harris saved this movie. When he first appeared on screen, murmurs of "It's Barney!" were heard all around. Obviously, Neil Patrick Harris is a very famous actor. But despite his big name, his acting was great and he did not disappoint. In almost all of his scenes, he managed to get laughs from the audience. It almost felt like it was really Barney Stinson who was the one acting. He was the one thing that made this movie enjoyable and bearable. I'm sure many people agree with me.

While not the best take on the famous Disney classic movie, I don't feel like this movie deserves a flat-out 1. The movie did have a bit of charm. First is Neil Patrick Harris who was great here. Second is how cute Alex Pettyfer and Vanessa Hudgens looked together. And third is the comic relief that the movie gives. That's basically it. If ever you decide to watch this movie, don't expect it to be as great as "Beauty and the Beast".

Viewed on: April 27, 2011

"I've seen worse" ... Really? Well, I haven't when it comes to recent films.

[ThatsWhatTheyTellMe · 2/10 · 15 March 2011]

As an avid supporter of fairy tales, a particular favourite being Beauty and the Beast, I went to see this film despite its horrendous critical reception. I usually enjoy mindless, simple teen trash for what it is and was even somewhat intrigued by the film's trailer. Unfortunately, calling "Beastly" teen trash would be a generous understatement.

The film's screenplay is no better than the work of a high school student trying to write a short story during their creative writing class. There is rarely if any witty dialogue and many of the lines are laugh-out-loud funny in their obscurity and cheesiness. There are a few very simple plot points in the film and the rest is just utter nonsense and one overly long and painfully uninteresting montage after another. The film should have spent more time developing characters and less time on these useless montage sequences that are so painfully tedious that I actually joked with my friend about falling asleep in the theatre several times.

The acting is pretty mediocre. I'm not going to call Hudgens or Pettyfer abominations to the craft of acting, simply because their characters didn't have nearly enough depth to allow them to prove whether or not they can act. Mary-Kate Olsen stands out as one of the few redeeming qualities this movie has. Her character is instantly biting and likable; she causes you to crave more screen time for her character throughout the film with her adorably wicked smirk and eerie vibe. Neil Patrick Harris is underused in what could have been a potentially interesting side character but manages to try and salvage his poorly written material.

Basically, this movie feels longer than it is, causing many of us to wish it would just be over. Nothing interesting happens that didn't occur in the trailer. There are many unnecessary plot elements, such as something that happens with Hudgens' character's father towards the end and then is sort of just solved off-screen with no real explanation. It's a tedious film and the ending is a cop-out that leaves a bad taste in your mouth as it completely undermines the supposed message of the film. And to top it off, they didn't have the decency to even attempt an epic climax. The climax and final embrace of the romantic leads is truly uninspired and pathetic. Just like the majority of this beastly excuse for a film.

If you listen to the critics all the time you will be missing out on this little gem of a film.

[thekyles99 · 6/10 · 29 May 2011]

OK this is the prime example of why upon reading a movie i want to see and it's poor reviews i just see it anyways so i can judge with my own eyes. Beastly in my opinion was no where near as bad as a lot of the critics panned it. It was a good modern tale adaptation of the Beauty And The Beast story that director Daniel Barnz totally put his own panache on it. And thats what i like to see. I don't want a director per say to take for example Disney's version of the tale and do it word for word, i want his own vision. And that's what we got here. Newcomer and heart throb Alex Pettyfer plays Kyle Kingston a very popular student in his school (who also due to his looks and popularity is also very conceited) Upon winning school valedictorian and announcing that he is there for the better looking people of the school, he mistakenly takes it upon himself to centre out and make fun of an outcast Kendra (played very well by Mary- Kate Olsen) in front of everyone pretty much announcing to everyone how ugly she is and then apologizes only to invite her to the school dance, which in turn only to make fun of her once again. This in turn causes Kendra to announce "That was your second chance" and unbeknowst to him being a witch she casts a spell on him casting him with hideous facial features and scars. This turns Kyle's world literally upside down! She also tells him that he has a year to make himself a better person and make some girl say i love you (and mean it) or else he will be stricken with those looks for the rest of his life. The rest of the film we see if Kyle can turn himself around and find love. I thought this was a great take on this old tale joined with the fact of a modern soundtrack the two added together make what i thought to be an modern romance flick.The moral here is don't always believe what you read!

I am ... done

[kosmasp · 2/10 · 9 January 2012]

I have no clue where to begin here. Maybe with the original story. Beauty and the Beast. Watch Disney's classic if you don't want to read the book, but I wouldn't suggest this movie. Unless you are a teenage girl who likes romantic movies filled with clichés. There is nothing wrong with that of course. But if you are not, do yourself a favor and just don't watch this abomination (pun intended).

You won't find beauty in here (except superficial beauty = beautiful actors). It is so cliché ridden and ridiculous it defies anything. It is as believable as Gargamel trying to convince a smurf that he won't hurt him. There is not much to act upon here, but even the few sincere moments get beaten with a stick. You get the message hammered home during the first minutes of the movie. In other words, there is no real highlight here (unless you count the makeup effects). This was a waste of time and a very bad effort to bring a classic story into the modern world ...

simple and sweet movie

[alyanna-favian · 10/10 · 11 June 2011]

this movie was adapted from the book of the same title inspired from the classic beauty and the beast. however, like the book this is a modern take of that old tale and the point of view of the story is that of the beast, hence the title. and of course we should not expect 100% similarities from book to movie which happens most of the time.finally this film is for targeted audience which are the teens so don't be too critical otherwise you will not enjoy the ride watching this awesome movie which for me is recommended not only for its target audience but adults alike.it is fun to watch, simple, straightforward and most of all heartwarming.and what i also love is the musical score and the songs used in this movie.

RUINED a good book!!!

[cristobel_2000 · 3/10 · 4 March 2011]

This movie was AWFUL!!!! Except for Neil Patrick Harris and Mary Kate Olsen this movie was the worst I have seen in a long time. That's pretty sad. The movie was terrible for the following reasons: it didn't follow the book at all, the acting SUCKED, the script was crappy, and I had more fun laughing at Neil Patrick Harris than watching this terrible film. I'm a teacher and as a punishment I'm going to buy this movie and show it to my kids when they misbehave. Don't not waste your time with this crappy crap movie. Read the book, its actually decent and is a classic Beauty and the Beast story. Not this garbage. Enough said!

Done Before and better

[Jacuk · 2/10 · 6 March 2011]

This movie is the same old story which has been made into countless movies. We have a person who is a obsessed by his good looks and therefore of course will be punished and will not become his old self until he has gone through some trials that will teach him that beauty comes from within and not based on the outside. We all know that in the real world this is not the case and it's a fairy-tale.

Going into the movie i did not have high hopes and i must admit i was surprised not because the movie is that good, but because it's not that bad either, the story has been done 100 times and has been done better than this but something about the main actors makes you feel pleasantly entertained and if you have 1½ hour which have to be spent on something this movie is not the worst thing to throw on the DVD.

Just don't expect to be wowed or see anything new and anything that hasn 't been done before.

Therefore i cannot in good will give it more than a 2.

Waste of my time.

[djohnkooi · 3/10 · 5 May 2011]

Just wow...

There is near nothing I can say that is good about this movie. After watching the first 5 minutes I can't really say I was very optimistic.

I'll start off by saying that the writer was probably 12 year old. There was no spark between characters and all the "lol"s were cliché or just plain dumb.

As I said The main characters had absolutely NO chemistry. I could swear I was watching a middle school play with all the awkwardness between actors in the more romantic scenes. There was just no emotion.

Vanessa Hudgens was overdoing every aspect of her role. Her facial expressions were just way over the top. Please don't even get me started on her horrendously fake laugh. I think she was trying to go for something cute, but instead got more of a squealing rabbit.

Alex Pettyfer, also know as "The Beast" in this modern adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, on the other hand put just the right amount of "it" into his character. As long as that "it" gets some some more acting lessons I may, MAY watch another movie with him in it. Problem is, his dreary voice just forced me to not care about anything he was saying. I saw him in I am Number Four, and I personally say that he should stick to action movies for a while, so I don't have to hear his voice as much.

I found myself, on multiple occasions, looking at my phone to see if someone had sent me a text. Unfortunately no, none of you did. So, I had to sit through that entire thing. Trust me there were many times where I just wanted to skip to the next scene, but I know if I did I would have heard "but you never even saw the whole thing". Well I did. And I regret every second of it! I have to say, I don't see why Neil Patrick Harris had stooped himself to this level. I enjoyed actually watching his portrayal of a blind man. Probably the one and only entertaining thing of this dull movie.

I never read the book, so I can assume this is another one of those "Read it, but don't watch it" kind of movies. I'm sure anyone on IMDb that gave it a rating about a 4 probably has read the book and feels obligated to be nice.

So in case you haven't figured it out yet, NO! I would not recommend this movie to anyone. I would rather look like the beast in this movie than watch another hour of it. Please don't make me do it again! 3.5/10

How could they call this mess a movie?!

[ercarvajal · 1/10 · 6 July 2011]

C'mon girls, even for the most girly girls of all, this is pure crap, nonsense.

No story at all, it started with a premise they never developed, and just added in dull dialog and unlikely events to force the flow the path they wanted to go; it's like cheating a "Movie Making Video game".

OK, I'll give that it has the picture, some effects, appropriate lightning and score are worthy of an A-movie, a decent theatrical release level. But the rest, the plot development, dialogs, characters, everything is so cheesy that even a 15-year old pink-minded schoolgirl would see thru them and come to realize that is pure B.S.

Yeah, we got it... yada, yada, love triumphs over hate, the inside is what counts, the nerds are also cool, the good looking are not smart and whatever other "underlaying deep CLICHÉ message" you have to deliver.

I don't want to spoil the content, but, you tell me, is that the way, a guy with a psychological profile as depicted at the beginning of the film, would fight a curse by a witch? I bet if this movie was for men, the guy would stick her with a wooden stake, burn her while crucified and then ride eastern Europe looking for a Gypsy which to revert back the spell... hehehehehe

Surprisingly okay

[Emilkak · 6/10 · 7 March 2011]

Well, there I was at the theatre with two friends, flipping a coin to decide whether we would be seeing 'The Adjustment Bureau' or 'Beastly' and, as you may have guessed by now, 'Beastly' won. Begrudgingly, I went into the cinema with very low expectations.

I think the fact that I went in not expecting anything very good made the movie better for me. I didn't go in wanting to see the book adapted on the big screen (I hadn't even known of its existence until a few days ago) and I was fully committed to making fun of the film when the time called for it. I went in expecting anything from just plain bad to a cheesy, sometimes sweet and all-around okay movie. And the all-around okay is exactly what I got. Not good, not bad but so okay it's average.

The plot is a fairly simple one: It's beauty and the beast. Just in New York and with teenagers. Basically, our hero is Kyle, played by Alex Pettyfer, a snobbish and shallow teenage boy who lives with his equally shallow and snobbish father. Kyle is transformed into a 'beast' by a witch called Kendra (Mary-Kate Olsen) after publicly embarrassing her, but not before he meets his love interest Lindy (Vanessa Hudgens). The rest one can easily figure out by knowing the original 'Beauty and the Beast' tale.

I'm going to say it now that you're probably not going to get emotionally attached to the characters. The script moves in a rushed way that detracts from the film and story. You're not going in for an amazing, mind-blowing script or anything, so I guess it doesn't really matter too much. In addition, the characters are underdeveloped and sort of flat, and the acting can only be called mediocre by most standards. (Except for, of course, Neil Patrick Harris, whom should be renamed 'Scene Stealer: The Man'.) Where the film does shine, however, is with the make-up. Making Alex Pettyfer, a model, look, well, not unattractive but not everyone's cup of tea is neat. Every cut on his face looked real, all the tattoos that seemed to literally pop out of his skin looked painfully realistic and, generally, the transformation was interesting to see. I, for one, really liked the make-up and, dare I say it, I think that the make-up people will get some nods when the time comes.

However, I can say in all honestly that I really, really did not like the editing. It looked like an amateur's work in Sony Vegas Six and it was quite bothersome to me. Films don't need flashy effects to make them better.

The film also has some really good tunes playing throughout scenes. The music did fit the story well.

So, should you see this movie? Well, that all depends. If you're like me and you were not-exactly-forced to see it, but you were brought along with some friends, then you might find it surprisingly sort of fun and, well, cute. If you're going in for serious movie-going experience, yeah, don't waste your money on it.

Beauty and the Beast Forever!

[skpn123 · 7/10 · 2 April 2019]

A cute teen version of the Beauty and the Beast story. Mary Kate Olsen staring dove eyed at Alex Pettyfer right through the film was more than a little over the top however if you can set you expectations low and just enjoy, it is a fun ride.

Awful

[cheng-natalie · 1/10 · 22 January 2012]

I was excited to see the movie and interested in a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast but I was really disappointed. I loved the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast. I'm also a teenage girl so I thought I would've enjoyed this. Boy was I wrong. The acting was so bad. I was not interested in the main characters at all. Vanessa Hudgens' acting was so unbelievable and flat. Alex Pettyfer worked well as a cocky teenage boy because I guess he is one in real life anyway. However, as the movie progressed I was expecting to sympathize with his character however, I did not. The plot was not told well either. I did not understand why some things happened. The plot was too rushed, I couldn't understand why things were happening at certain points. Horrible storytelling, I was extremely bored and disinterested throughout the whole film. This is probably the worst film I've seen.

It's not that bad really... watchable leads

[rdoanderson · 6/10 · 5 August 2020]

In these difficult days of lockdown and having watched many many months of movies you eventually have to just appreciate a watchable movie.

Its filmed fine - if you've read the synopsis you know what you are getting.

Its nothing magical ;-) but it's fine.