BELLE (2021) – Review

Here in the US movie audiences have embraced animated features based on fairy tales for well over eighty years when Walt Disney gambled on the story of Snow White and her seven forest pals. And how do they travel overseas? Very well indeed as many foreign lands contributed to the wealth of animated fable features. Now comes a new take on a much-beloved story that the “mouse house’ tackled over thirty years ago. No, it’s not another “live-action” retelling as the Disney Studios did in 2015. The master film artisans of Japan have put an interesting high tech “spin” on it, but it’s not a CG effort, like a Pixar flick. This is somewhat futuristic with the same themes of swooning romance between a reviled creature and the beauty known as BELLE.

Before the love story properly commences, we’re given a short prologue, a primer on the virtual community existing online known as the U. Its super-sophisticated system allows members to enter via an earpiece that gathers biometric info on the user to create a unique “avatar” in the U world. The most talked-about character (in all the chat rooms and forums) is the pop music diva, Belle. But who is she in the “real world” (true identities are protected)? She’s a shy high school girl named Suzu (voice of Kaho Nakamura) still dealing with the tragic loss of her mother many years ago. She’s drifting away from her widowed dad but has a few close friends at school. There’s Ruka (Tina Watanabe), who shares her online secret and acts as her agent/guide in the U. Suzu also has a protector in her childhood pal/crush Shinobu (Ryo Narita). But Suzu really lives to become Belle and headline massive concerts in the towering U cities. Then the unthinkable happens, a savage beast disrupts her biggest show, zipping through the crowds while being pursued by an army of “super peace-keepers” led by the handsome Justian (Toshiyuki Morikawa). Belle/Suzu is drawn to the dragon-like beast and locates his hiding place, a massive ornate castle. Unfortunately, Justian and his forces follow her and threaten to “unveil” and destroy the hulking horned creature. His only hope for survival is Suzu, who needs to find out his “real world” identity. But who can it be? Perhaps it’s Shinobu or his canoe-crazy pal Shinjiro (Shota Sometani)? Can she solve the mystery before she suffers another devasting loss?

So, yes this does owe a lot to BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, both the original tale and the various film incarnations (including Walt’s), but this clever take from writer/director Mamoru Hosoda expands on the familiar with elements of TRON, THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER, and CYRANO. It is of two worlds, the U online and the real, with the emotions running high in both. Suzu and her pals are dramatically expressive, making every day in high school fraught with danger at every corner. Ditto for the U, though the avatars have more fluidity and grace rather than “gangly panic” (no “sweat beads” there). Then there are the visual palette differences. Yes, : reality’ has moments of loveliness with tranquil rippling streams and drifting fluffy clouds. But oh, the online wonders of the U paradise. Rows of skyscrapers form art deco mountain ranges as dazzling multi-hued pixies and critters dance in and out of the canyons. Belle herself is a luminous neon goddess, her long hair dancing about her lithe figure. A stark contrast to the “Beast” a lumbering creation with a warthog/equine face, scowering eyes, a robe to hide its bruises, and dangerous longhorns. His home is a sharp-edged, grim-grey explosion of shapes and lines. Oh, the animation is close to the classic “hand-drawn” 2D style, though computers greatly aided in the airbrush-like character colorings and the eye-popping effects (buildings explode in delicate, shimmering shards of reflecting glass). And though the “real world” is often too melodramatic (lots of static figures with mouths always agape), the U dimension carries constant surprises. It’s a marvel mixing timeless themes with futuristic fantasy. And that’s the true beauty of BELLE.

3 Out of 4

BELLE is now playing in select theatres