"Beastly" - in theaters

I remember first seeing the trailer for this movie last summer. It was supposed to come out in August, but was then pushed further back. After seeing it, I understand why. It would've been lost in the blockbuster, summer action movie market. Given that, even though it was released in the March doldrums, it still isn't widely available. I had to travel to another freaking state to see it.

That being said, "Beastly", was well... beastly. But kind of in a good way. The story is Beauty and the Beast, set in modern day New York. I don't think I need to rehash the plot here. However, I will go over some of the highlights.

1. Neil Patrick Harris: Oh NPH and the movies you do. He plays Kyle's (Alex Pettyfer) blind tutor, who has witty, sort of dry sense of humor. He's also cute as a button, and steals the scene whenever he's on screen.

2. Mary Kate Olsen: She plays the witch and I was skeptical before seeing it. The preview made her look absolutely ridiculous, not to mention a poor actress. She was quite the opposite on screen. It's weird to think that she was the seasoned veteran of the young cast, but you can tell that she has experience acting in movies NOT made for just the Disney channel (I mean, hers can be found showing on ABC Family, duh). She was a tad nasty and cutthroat, and had a pretty amazing gothic wardrobe. I dug her role.

3. Vanessa Hudgens: She's on this list simply because she curses. It's weird to see Gabriella from "High School Musical" say 'shit'. It just is.

4. How they did the Rose: You know in the cartoon that when the final petal is off the rose, then the beast's time is up? In this version, Kyle has a pretty killer tattoo on his arm which changes as the time passes. It was an innovative way to do it, and I liked it.

So on the CWeave scale, I rate this movie a 5.5. It was definitely entertaining, but nothing to shake a stick at. Hopefully Vanessa's next outing, "Suckerpunch" packs more of a wallop.