Beauty and the Beast (2017)

I think Disney actually did an enchanting job with this remake of the (Oscar Best Picture-nominated) original. The acting and casting is spot on. Specifically, Emma Watson is simply divine. She's beautiful and charming and who knew she could sing? Her voice actually sounds very pure. She is helped greatly by the new orchestrations, modernizing the familiar tunes. Emma Thompson is fine as Mrs. Potts but I don't think her rendition of the title song can match the iconic Angela Lansbury. There are some new songs in addition to the old classics. And they're all quite good. There is a noticeable amount of diversity among the villagers and even some interracial couples, though in provincial France they were surely all white. Disney of course had the controversy with Josh Gad's flamboyantly gay Le Fou, but it was actually surprisingly tame. They're making a big deal out of nothing. And Josh Gad is perfect for Le Fou. Besides, shouldn't Le Fou be gay? It's really just reading a little deeper into his character. The one casting I wasn't crazy about was Dan Stevens for beast. I have to admit, I did not recognize him or his name, but it's Matthew from Downton Abbey! His face is only in a small portion of the film, but the big reveal at the end was shocking. He looked to pretty with his golden locks to be taken seriously. It was like a joke ripped from the cover of a romance novel. If Disney was really trying to push boundaries, the prince would've been black.

Visually, the castle and costumes are quite stunning. The Be Our Guest sequence is just like the original. I, personally, had a problem seeing the detail though. I don't know if it was the movie or me, but every time the camera moved, everything looked blurry. I couldn't make out any of the lines. It felt like watching a 3D movie without the glasses on sometimes. Maybe it was filmed in 3D? There are definitely 3D versions being shown, but we had a 2D screening in a large cinema in Dublin.

Mr. Holmes (2015)

Mr Holmes was a pleasant surprise. Ian McKellan is a fantastic Sherlock. The film is very thoughtful and touching. It follows an aging Sherlock, looking back on his final case. The film goes through his process of memory recovery. But his memory is failing and it is deeply affecting to watch a great mind in deterioration and then to watch an old man evolve. It lacks the glamour that we've become accustomed to in the most recent adaptations of the detective (Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Downey Jr.). It lacks the brilliant intricacy of the cases in those stories, but rather this is about solving his own case. What it lacks in flash it more than makes up for with emotion.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

I still maintain that the Hobbit did not need three films to tell a complete and satisfying tale.  In the novel, Bilbo misses the majority of the climactic battle, resulting in a battle that only lasts a few pages. Comparatively, this battle lasts for over two hours.  The movie is mostly this one gigantic battle, and it gets a little old.  The whole movie is literally battle scenes without much room for plot, not that much plot was left after the second film. That being said, this is the shortest film in either trilogy, rightfully so.

Nonetheless, this movie is the culmination of over a decade of work by Peter Jackson.  This is the capstone on JRR Tolkienn's imaginative masterwork that is Middle Earth (I don't see Peter Jackson making a film version of the Silmarillion).  It is a fitting end to an excellent series.  If the series was characterized by epic battles, this movie certainly epitomizes epic battles.  If Peter Jackson was a master of visual effects, the opening sequence in which Smaug the dragon destroys the town is stunning.  Remember that magical score by Howard Shore from the original trilogy?  The final scene in the Shire (coming full circle) closes with the theme we know and love.  The ending credits have a familiar voice in Billy Boyd (Peregrin Took from the original trilogy) who fittingly sings "The Last Goodbye."  Goodbye Middle Earth...  

  

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

A big improvement over its predecessor, but not quite as good as the original trilogy.  I'm still a little miffed that the very thin Hobbit was split into three movies.   This middle movie takes us almost to the end of the book.  And yet, I bet the third installment will be another three hour saga.  For the amount of plot that occurred,  the movie was just too long.

That being said,  there were some exhilarating scenes such as the one in which the dwarves and Bilbo are "barreling" down the river with the orcs and elves in pursuit.  Of course,  what we have all been waiting for was Smaug,  the fire-breathing Sherlock-voiced dragon.   He is certainly an incredible sight to see.   Peter Jackson's higher, realer frame rate shines in these scenes.   The visuals are enough to hold us over till the big Battle of the Five Armies.