Movie Review: Beastly starring Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer

by First Mate Keira

Title: Beastly
Director: Daniel Barnz
Duration: 86 minutes
Rating: PG-13

Summary: Kyle Kingsbury is a vain and arrogant young boy. He really steps in it when he unknowingly meets and antagonizes a witch at school going by Kendra. On the night of a school dance he’s bewitched to appear as ugly on the outside as he is on the inside. His one saving grace is the fact that he gave a scholarship girl the rose corsage he intended for his date. That one good deed buys him a chance to get out of his beastly predicament… but it’s got a time limit. Can he find someone to love and love him in return before a year is up?

Why I watched this movie:

I read the book last year when I heard it was coming out in theaters. I love Beauty and the Beast stories.

Likes:

I loved Alex Pettyfer. I thought he did really well. He’s what made the movie for me. He and Vanessa work together best during the ending sequence when she discovers who he really was all along. I liked seeing them travel the world together in the little montage.
The makeup for the movie is fantastic. I much prefer the wild tattoos and scars over a hairy form. In a cartoon, it would and did work, but it would look fake or very Cousin It. I confirmed for sure that his eyebrows say embrace suck. Embrace suck a phrase used in the movie at the beginning by both Kyle and Kendra.
Neil Patrick Harris is funny in his part as the blind tutor. He could have been used more, but that’s just me.

Toss-Up:

I liked the housekeeper getting green cards at the end of the film for her children. However, the housekeeper was supposed to be another form of the witch, Kendra, and this was changed from the book to the movie.

Dislikes:

I didn’t really like Mary-Kate Olsen in the film. She looked like how I pictured the character, but she was weird or made the character overly weird for me.
The movie lacks the charm of the book overall and has some awkward dialogue/scenes that don’t fit as well as they could.

Buy: Beastly

Rating: 3 Treasure Chests