I haven't read the teen book this movie was adapted from. So, my opinions here are solely based on the movie. The following are the thoughts that streamed through my mind as I watched it:
1. The scripwriter tried too hard to make the lead character Kyle the most conceited looks-obsessed guy that actor Alex Pettyfer ended up having to keep a straight face while saying some of the downright corniest lines ever uttered by a movie character I have ever heard in my life!
2. Mary Kate Olsen alien-meets-bag-lady fashion sense actually works very well in the movie. She was the coolest-looking person in there. From the Witch Cloak to the Madhatter to the Goth Mary Quant to the White Goddess, she visually stole the screen from Alex Pettyfer.
3. Neil Patrick Harris managed to provide the comic relief with the very little material they had given him.
4. The storytelling needs to learn a lot from Disney's animated Beauty and the Beast. The script came across as choppy and the "falling in love" build-up felt a bit "cut & paste". I felt that the roles of Kyle's unofficial "cheerleaders" i.e his helper Lisa Gay Hamilton and his tutor Neil Patrick Harris could have been widened more to heighten the "will they fall in love" anticipation factor. Both actors gave great performance despite the minimal time though.
Ok. They could even learn from the High School Musical I movie. Despite its cheesiness, HSM I is a very well-written story which I enjoy immensely. The drama, build-up and climax all in the right pacing. Beastly suffers from choppy pacing.
5. I felt no connection at all to the "Beauty" in Beastly. The movie gives very minimal insight of who or what she is as a person. This "Beauty" just does not have the warmth that Disney's Belle gives you very early in the story. It could also be that Vanessa Hudgens' acting is pretty much flat that the whole "kindness-and-heart-of-gold" thing just wasn't convincing to watch.
Ms. Hudgens has the Jennifer Aniston syndrome. She plays Gabriella Montez (High School Musical) over and over again just like Jen plays Rachel (Friends) over and over again. Very limited acting range.
6. Kyle a.k.a Hunter "beastly" look certainly isn't beastly in New York City! In fact, it can actually be really cool. I thought, 'Freak Show....Coney Island'......hmm
7. Oh my God, Alex Pettyfer is the upgraded and updated version of Nick Carter (BSB) in British form!
