The new "Beauty & the Beast" honors the original Disney classic while deepening its story.

If you're going to remake a beloved classic, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better adaptation than director Bill Condon's superb live action update of the 1991 animated "Beauty & the Beast." He and his screenwriters clearly adore the original and vividly recreate the spirit of its story and render songs like "Be Our Guest" and "Gaston" with eye-popping 2017 detail. They also deepen the tale as old as time along with wonderful touches of modernity. Belle (Emma Watson) is now feistier, the casting is diverse, and even the villains are given more complexity. Who says you can't teach an old beast new tricks?