Beastly

In the Buckeston Academy High School, the wealthy, arrogant, narcissist and bigot Kyle Kingson (Alex Pettyfer) is a student that does not respect his classmates. When Kyle is elected representative of the students, he plays a prank with the outcast Kendra (Mary-Kate Olsen) that has the fame of being a witch. He invites her to a party and humiliates her in front of their classmates. However, Kendra curses him with a spell that makes Kyle as ugly as his soul. Further, she tells that if he does not find anyone who loves him within a year, he will be doomed to that appearance forever.

When Kyle's father Rob Kingson (Peter Krause) sees him, he takes Kyle to specialists but the doctors do not know what to do. So Rob hides Kyle in an apartment with a maid and a blind tutor. When Kyle sees his mate Lindy (Vanessa Hudgens) on the streets, he saves her from a dangerous drug dealer and he brings her to his apartment to protect her. Now his only hope is that Lindy falls in love with him.

"Beastly" is a contemporary teen-version of "The Beauty and the Beast". The ridiculous make-up on Alex Pettyfer is the weakest part of the film. Vanessa Hudgens is not a beautiful actress and is very weak for the lead role. Further, she does not show any chemistry with Alex Pettyfer. The plot is weird and the way that Lindy is forced to move to the Hunter's apartment through blackmail of her father does not convince.

The plot has many flaws but "Beastly" is neither the best nor the worst romance recently released and there are many unfair reviews in IMDb. Despite the flaws, this film actually entertains on DVD. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "A Fera" ("The Beast")

I was so looking forward to this movie and was so sad that I was disappointed it wasn't quite up to expectations. I did not read the book but I saw the trailer for this a few months back and Beauty and the Beast had always been my favourite Disney movie. A modern retelling, good-looking leads, gorgeous cinematography and Neil Patrick Harris? Perfect ingredient for a good old romance movie, I'd say.

But I was wrong. The movie even started on the wrong foot, with Alex Pettyfer's dismal acting. Maybe he's been doing so many action movies that putting on the skin of a romantic lead was a little hard. His portrayal of the vain, selfish and mean lead was unconvincing at best. Now, the best part of Beast's transformation was the coming-of-age of the spoiled 'prince' into a rage-filled beast and finally into a selfless man transformed by love. None of that were evident in Kyle Kingson. He was a brat, then a whiny stalker, and finally an emo dude.

Vanessa Hudgens also gave a cringe-worthy performance. She was so flat and void of personality that it was painful to watch. Beside the bad acting, the plot was also a little draggy, lacking in climax and real emotion. You don't feel drawn to the characters, you don't feel convinced by the emotions and you will cringe at the incredibly cheesy lines. In fact, my sister and I kept mumbling 'Don't say it! Don't say it!" throughout the movie because a clichéd one-liner is always around the corner.

The one saving grace was Neil Patrick Harris, but that's only because he brought his 'Barney Stinson' persona into the movie. Though I absolutely adore Barney, it would be nice to see NPH bring something different to the plate.

All in all, I'd say watch this movie if you're looking for style, but don't go looking for substance. There's not much to be had.

I watched this movie on a whim. Two of my friends asked if I wanted to go out and watch this movie, and since I had nothing better to do, I said yes. I didn't think this movie would be that bad since people have called it the 'newer and more modern version' of "Beauty and the Beast". They didn't add that it fails at doing so.

Kyle was born handsome and has had everything handed to him on a silver platter since. One night, he offends an enchantress which leads her to cursing Kyle and turning him into a beast. In order to break the curse, Kyle must find someone who'll love him despite his looks before the last flower of spring blooms.

"Beastly"'s plot is a lot similar to that of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast", but I'm afraid that "Beastly" just doesn't compare to the magic and emotions that "Beauty and the Beast" shared with its audience. Alex Pettyfer and Vanessa Hudgens, while being well-known actors, just don't commit here. Their acting, particularly Hudgens', felt flat. On screen, they did make a cute couple, but that was all it was. They just looked good together. For me, I thought that there was no build-up and not enough back story for their romance to feel real. Disney's Belle and the Beast did a far better job than them.

Neil Patrick Harris saved this movie. When he first appeared on screen, murmurs of "It's Barney!" were heard all around. Obviously, Neil Patrick Harris is a very famous actor. But despite his big name, his acting was great and he did not disappoint. In almost all of his scenes, he managed to get laughs from the audience. It almost felt like it was really Barney Stinson who was the one acting. He was the one thing that made this movie enjoyable and bearable. I'm sure many people agree with me.

While not the best take on the famous Disney classic movie, I don't feel like this movie deserves a flat-out 1. The movie did have a bit of charm. First is Neil Patrick Harris who was great here. Second is how cute Alex Pettyfer and Vanessa Hudgens looked together. And third is the comic relief that the movie gives. That's basically it. If ever you decide to watch this movie, don't expect it to be as great as "Beauty and the Beast".

Viewed on: April 27, 2011

OK this is the prime example of why upon reading a movie i want to see and it's poor reviews i just see it anyways so i can judge with my own eyes. Beastly in my opinion was no where near as bad as a lot of the critics panned it. It was a good modern tale adaptation of the Beauty And The Beast story that director Daniel Barnz totally put his own panache on it. And thats what i like to see. I don't want a director per say to take for example Disney's version of the tale and do it word for word, i want his own vision. And that's what we got here. Newcomer and heart throb Alex Pettyfer plays Kyle Kingston a very popular student in his school (who also due to his looks and popularity is also very conceited) Upon winning school valedictorian and announcing that he is there for the better looking people of the school, he mistakenly takes it upon himself to centre out and make fun of an outcast Kendra (played very well by Mary- Kate Olsen) in front of everyone pretty much announcing to everyone how ugly she is and then apologizes only to invite her to the school dance, which in turn only to make fun of her once again. This in turn causes Kendra to announce "That was your second chance" and unbeknowst to him being a witch she casts a spell on him casting him with hideous facial features and scars. This turns Kyle's world literally upside down! She also tells him that he has a year to make himself a better person and make some girl say i love you (and mean it) or else he will be stricken with those looks for the rest of his life. The rest of the film we see if Kyle can turn himself around and find love. I thought this was a great take on this old tale joined with the fact of a modern soundtrack the two added together make what i thought to be an modern romance flick.The moral here is don't always believe what you read!

I was so excited to see this movie after hearing about it. I loved the book and was extremely excited for the movie. That movie was so far from the book they could have renamed it. The movie had strong characters but a weak plot and barely any climax. Compared to the book, that was a complete butchering of the story. They cut out some extremely important events within the book. The ending was completely ruined. It was supposed to be full of suspense and adventure, excitement and nerve. The movies ending was dull and pointless. It was completely changed from the events that happened to the location of the events. THE NAMES IN THE MOVIE WEREN'T EVEN RIGHT!! I was disappointed. Basing it an a movie stand point, and not compared to the book, it was okay. Boring and cute. A basic romance. Nothing to special. Definitely not something I would see again. I was extremely disappointed with this movie. I would have thought it would have been better since they postponed the release date for half a year. If you ask me, wait for the DVD and don't waste your money.