When critiquing films, I am oftentimes put in the position of having to choose between two approaches. I can cut the movie some slack while letting the audience (and perhaps myself) have their fun or apply my genuine critical takes on the film in order to treat the medium with the sincerity that it ought to elicit from its audience.
But there is truth in both approaches. I would be lying if I said I found nothing compelling about Mamoru Hosoda’s new film “Belle.” But I would also be lying if I said I were the target audience for this film. I can’t pretend that I didn’t have criticisms that prevented me from engaging with “Belle” in a very positive way, but I also can’t bash this movie as though no one should see it (nor do I have the desire to do so). “Belle” is a movie that seems to have disparate ambitions, emulating a Disney fairy tale meant for children while having genuine feelings about more serious and relevant subject matter. These ambitions blur the line as to what level of scrutiny the film expects from its audience. I hope to address the film on its terms to give it the benefit of the doubt and help those who might like it find their way to it. Still, I hope to identify why the film doesn't work for me and why it may not work for others.
“Belle,” or in its proper title, “Ryuu to habakasu no hime,” (The Dragon and the Freckled Princess) is an unabashed retelling of “Beauty and the Beast,” as Hosoda has been open about in the ads bombarding my TikTok for-you page. “Belle” centers around a shy, rural high schooler named Suzu (Kaho Nakamura) as she is introduced to the virtual reality space of "U." The film cycles between Suzu's adventure in the U and the mundane, lighthearted dramas of her high school life. Enthralled with the idea of creating another identity in the U, Suzu rediscovers a passion for music instilled in childhood by her now late mother. With the help of her friend, Hiroka (Lila Ikuta), Suzu's virtual avatar, Belle, quickly goes viral and becomes a face for the U platform. Soon though, Suzu comes to learn of another notorious figure, voiced by actor Takeru Satou, Ryuu (literally "dragon" but translated here as "the beast"). The beast is a monstrous avatar, covered in a cape of "bruises," known for making trouble and disturbing the peace around the U. Suzu is intrigued by the mystery of the beast's identity and seeks to learn more about him.
At its best, “Belle” is a surprisingly poignant love letter to how the internet can touch people's lives. While plenty of films have used music to explore similar ideas, Hosoda seems to focus on the way that sometimes unpredictably, a song or a video on the internet can reach out to people worldwide and inspire them. Suzu's fame isn't based on her but on an avatar, an identity that can be remixed and adopted and spread like wildfire.
While there is room for more thorough character exploration, examining complications in Suzu's relationship with her alter-ego or the music she makes, for example, the film never manages to make that deep dive. But since this is a Disney-styled movie through and through, keeping things simple and relying on tried and true tropes in a new, contemporary setting, might work well enough. Through these tropes the film attempts to say something positive about a medium that can often seem very scary and isolating. If this kind of storytelling works for you, “Belle” has enough visual spectacle to sell itself as an anime Disney film.
“Belle” at its worst is a film that viewers must work very hard to suspend their disbelief to enjoy. Much like Hosoda's last film “Mirai” (2018), “Belle” excels at creating individual poignant moments but fails at crafting a compelling narrative. This weak story is especially disappointing given that the film retreads territory from Hosoda's other internet epic, the beloved “Summer Wars” (2009), which succeeds in almost every area where “Belle” fails. While “Summer Wars” took a playful, exaggerated approach to its virtual reality setting, “Belle,” despite its simplistic Disney-esque storytelling, insists on being a serious film, making it hard to invest in when the film barely understands the internet or how it works. While “Summer Wars” had an instantly recognizable style for its world, “Belle”’s digital world never forms its own unique identity. Its clunky computer animation feels bland, paling in comparison to the more traditional animation used for the real world. While 'Summer Wars' had a delightful and well-developed cast of characters, 'Belle' never seems to know which story threads are most important and refuses to develop its central characters beyond their tropes. This lack of character development becomes detrimental in conjunction with the heavy subject matter the film tries to contend with in its final act.
With the imminent arrival of Facebook's metaverse along with other VR/AR platforms and the rise in popularity of VTubers (digital content creators who use anime-styled avatars as their internet alter-egos) over the pandemic, “Belle” certainly need not be any more topical to be relevant today. So if a film that is about "right now" is good enough, then I suppose this is good enough. But 'Belle' could have gone the extra mile by putting more effort into developing its characters to create a more nuanced vision of our internet landscape - one that doesn't leave itself open to simplified, literalist interpretations of the film as a story of a viral internet singer falling for an edgy troll as he flees from a knockoff-Discord moderator with a magic doxxing laser.
