When everyone first heard the news of a live action “Beauty and The Beast” movie, several fans of the original movie became became very, very scared. It is so many people’s favorite childhood Disney movie. The tale of a small village girl falling in love with a beast before the last petal on a rose wilts away.

Ignoring the fears of almost the whole world, Disney didn’t slow down. From the first teaser trailer of a rose petal falling softly to the ground and announcing Emma Watson as the actress for Belle, nobody could do anything but accept it and hope for the best. Luckily, we were not let down.

If you haven’t seen the original movie, you probably at least know the story. Belle, a smart, curious girl lives with her father, Maurice (Kevin Kline) at the edge of a small town. To save her father, Belle trades places with him as a prisoner in a dark castle. She soon learns that the castle is alive, and full of talking candlesticks, clocks and tea cups.

Watson is an extraordinary Belle. From the moment she walks from her home into her ‘poor provincial town’ while singing a song named after her, you’ll fall in love. Albeit it does take a few moments to get used Watson’s portrayal of Belle, but you grow to accept and love her. It’s no wonder that her character’s name means, ‘beauty.’ The makeup/wardrobe crew definitely deserve some thumbs up. They dressed an entire town and castle full of people magnificently.

Alongside Watson stars Dan Stevens as the Beast, dun dun dunnnnnn. Stevens does a great job at showing the feelings of anger, hatred, confusion, love and eventual happiness. And before we go any farther, we have to talk about his spectacular song, “Evermore.” If you’ve already seen the movie, you can remember this song because it was the one you were sobbing the whole way through. If you haven’t seen it…bring tissues, a lot of them.

A huge part of “Beauty and The Beast” is not only the main characters, but the supporting characters. With Ewan McGregor as Lumiere, Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, Luke Evans as Gaston and Josh Gad as LeFou, the movie was sure to have an excellent supporting cast. Each character is illuminated brilliantly and literally brought to life. They pull you in to be their guest and put a new spin on a classical favorite. I almost didn’t want to leave the theater.

Escaping the fears and rumors, Beauty and The Beast is a stand out. This movie is rated a five out five, not out of stars, but out of candlesticks. The movie draws the viewer in and illuminates a classical favorite by bringing you back to a tale as old as time.