The live action remake of Beauty and the Beast that was released March 17 this year turned out to have amazing reviews from the press. The movie is said to be a word for word remake of the 1991 version, made clear from the trailer release back in November, apparently identical to the old Beauty and the Beast trailer. Most reviews stated that the movie was a spitting image of the previous one, and overall the audience was pleased. A.O. Scott of the New York Times said that “[The movie] looks good, moves gracefully and leaves a clean and invigorating aftertaste. I almost didn’t recognize the flavor: I think the name for it is joy.” The film scored nearly one billion dollars in the box office, currently at an outrageous nine hundred and ten million dollars, almost five times the film’s initial production budget.

The film was well enjoyed by audiences of all ages, and many Harry Potter fans went to see their Hermione Granger and noticed a Harry Potter reference in the beginning of the movie. The same fans later started a Twitter and Tumblr quarrel over the idea that a whole generation will now know Emma Watson as Belle, not Hermione.

While the film was largely well-received, The Atlantic disagrees; “The recent Disney remake formula is a simple one: Take a beloved animated tale (say, Cinderella or The Jungle Book), cast some big-name celebrities, and then dial the opulence factor up to 11, turning a film everyone remembers into a grand, if somewhat hollow, homage for a new generation.” Some dissatisfaction also stemmed because the movie had a longer running time of two hours and nineteen minutes, which bored the adult audience who had already watched the original animated version of Beauty and the Beast.

One thing audiences really seemed to notice was a character that seemed to be homosexual. LeFou— Gaston’s trusted friend— seemed to be represented as gay in the live action movie, which led to some controversy. Some theaters, such as a drive-in located in Henagar, Alabama, have cancelled screenings of Beauty and the Beast just because of how LeFou is represented. In a USA Today interview, the director of the movie, Bill Condon, says he just wishes that everyone can enjoy the movie.

All in all, this movie was happily accepted by critics and has done great in the box office. If you have time, go and watch the movie at the local theater as it continues to run.