“Beauty and the Beast” (Fantasy: 2 hours, 9 minutes)

Starring: Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Kevin Kline, Ian McKellen and Emma Thompson

Director: Bill Condon

Rated: PG (Violence and frightening scenes)

Movie Review: This is another adaptation of a popular Disney fairytale. “Beauty and the Beast” is very much in the fashion of the 1991 animated movie (Directors Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise), which is based on the story by French writer Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont.

The Beast (Stevens) captures and imprisons Maurice (Kline) in an enchanted castle. Belle (Watson), Maurice’s daughter, trades places with her father to free him.

In the castle, Belle’s treatment is like a princess, despite her desire to leave. The Beast, once a handsome prince, has an ulterior motive. He hopes Belle will love him regardless of his appearance. This is the only means by which to break the curse that made The Beast a monster and his servants household items.

The Beast only has a short time before the curse becomes permanent, so he and his servants must woo Belle to end the curse.

The curse on Beast requires him to be worthy of pure love, without any emphasis on exterior beauty. In essence, the rose is the one living gatekeeper of this curse. When Belle accidentally comes across the torn portrait of Prince Adam (Beast in his human form), she tries to put it together to be able to figure out the face painted, but is distracted by the suddenly brighter light of the rose which is to make sure she doesn’t figure out the Beast’s true identity.

Minus some films of “The Twilight Saga,” 2011 and 2012, Bill Condon is the director of superior films. The notables are “Gods and Monsters” (1998), “Chicago” (2002), “Kinsey” (2004) and “Dreamgirls” (2006). His movies are constantly at the top of critics lists. “Beauty and the Beast” is another brilliant production by Condon.

The live version of this classic tale is like a stage production. The talents are grand. Watson and Steven are charmingly inviting as the beauty and the beast this outing. Additionally, several other talented actors grace the cast.

Luke Evans is perfectly malevolent as the antagonist Gaston. Josh Gad is entertaining as LeFou. Kevin Kline brings a seasoned touch to this narrative. Thompson brings a welcomed motherly charm, and Ian McKellen and Ewan McGregor are a nice comical duo as Cogsworth and Lumière.

The great feat is the eye candy. The set designs, costumes and visual effects are stunning. They provide enough mental stimulation they overshadow the cast in several scenes.

Despite a talented cast and impressive visuals, it is the fantasy that will charm audiences.

“Beauty and the Beast” remains a steadfast story. It is envisioned here in a glamorous method that works well to make it a standout among many versions of this musical fantasy.

Grade: B (Still, a beautiful fairy tale.)

“The Belko Experiment” (Thriller: 1 hour, 28 minutes)

Starring: Tony Goldwyn, John Gallagher Jr. and Adria Arjona

Director: Greg McLean

Rated: R (Strong violence, profanity, sexual references, and some drug use)

Movie Review: As a thriller, “The Belko Experiment” is original in its intent but lackluster in its execution. It quickly becomes a tediously unsmart remake of 2013’s “The Purge.”

Eighty foreigners, mainly U.S. citizens, are captive in a high-rise building in Bogotá, Colombia as part of a twisted social experiment. The high-rise corporate building is an inescapable place  where people told kill each other if they want to survive. The game of survival becomes carnage, contributing to mass murder.

For a brief moment, the story is intriguing, but this quickly changes in the opposite direction. The movie goes from being a neat thriller to just sheer violent imagery. The original story previously put forth quickly vanishes to brainless actions. Even more, the story sets itself up for sequel, as if not enough people were killed in this screenplay.

Grade: C- (Producers should have run more experiments on test audiences before debuting their results.)