Alex Pettyfer (also starring in I Am Number Four) plays Kyle Kingson in Beastly, a contemporary remake of Beauty and the Beast. Kyle is arrogant, rich and good looking and he uses that to be popular, while mocking unattractive classmates. When he invites Goth classmate Kendra (Mary-Kate Olsen) to a party, he humiliates her. She then casts a spell that physically transforms him into everything he hates, an ugly monster. He has until next spring to get someone to truly love him.
Kyle's father banishes him to Brooklyn, where he lives with his housekeeper and a blind tutor (Neil Patrick Harris). One night he bumps into old classmate Lindy (Vanessa Hudgens), where he sees her drug addict father killing a dealer. He then blackmails him into letting her daughter live with him in Brooklyn where he promises to keep her safe. Kyle must then get Lindy to fall in love with him before he is stuck as a grotesque monster forever.
I thought Beastly was fairly good, staying true to the original story of Beauty and the Beast. The way Kyle got Lindy to stay at his place is very weak and highly implausible, but once you get over that bump in the movie, it flows a bit better. Vanessa Hudgens seems to play very similar characters with dry humor (like her character in Band Slam) and is borderline monotone when she speaks. Neil Patrick Harris is funny as usual; he probably has the best lines in the movie! While not the greatest movie, it does it job for its target audience, who will lap it up.
Beastly comes out in theatres tomorrow, March 4th.
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