EVER since 2016’s The Jungle Book, Disney has been on a tear bringing some of their most beloved animated films to live-action, such as Beauty and the Beast (2017), Aladdin (2019), The Lion King (2019), Mulan (2020), and Pinocchio (2022).
This weekend, it’s The Little Mermaid’s turn to hit the big screen.
Using the latest in special effects, it brings all your nostalgia into the present, with a few shakes of modern Hollywood representation thrown in for good measure, but the whole process just feels a little too cynical – smacking of a studio afraid of taking risks and just mining the past for an easy buck.
As someone who hasn’t seen the original 1989 animated classic in at least 25 years, my recollection of the plot is as murky as the sea, but in broad strokes this version is a pretty faithful retelling. It’s a fairy tale after all, it’s not that complicated.
And somehow over the course of 30 or so years between the cartoon and this remake, the running time for this story got bloated from just over 80 minutes to 2 hours and 15 minutes.
Ariel (Halle Bailey) is your typical rebellious sea princess, who wants to go to the surface and meet with humans because of adventure and whatnot, to the consternation of her protective father King Triton (Javier Bardem).
Saving the shipwrecked Prince Eric (a slightly bland Jonah Hauer-King) sets her mind on this, but the only one willing to help her is her evil aunt Ursula (a captivating Melissa McCarthy). All she has to do is give up her voice, kiss the prince in three days, or she loses everything.
Ariel is assisted by her animal companions: Sebastian (Daveed Diggs), a crab with a Jamaican accent; Flounder (Jacob Tremblay), a mopey fish; and Scuttle (Awkwafina), a wisecracking seagull.
If you’re wondering why these animals speak, but the others don’t, you’re overthinking this movie.
Yes, plenty of people online are up in arms about a black mermaid, but who cares? Mermaids aren’t real. Bailey is very charming in the role, though attempting to even slightly modernise a simple fairy tale is a little clunky.
The Little Mermaid definitely takes inspiration from Netflix’s Bridgerton in terms of how it handles representation, which is fine, but sometimes it’s a bit much.
Once again, the movie uses iconic songs from the cartoon (Under the Sea is still a banger), with music by Alan Mencken and lyrics by Howard Ashman, who were behind some of Disney’s biggest hits of the era.
They’re joined by Lin-Manuel Miranda who adds new lyrics to the classics as well as three new songs.
The musical numbers are a highlight, bringing the movie to life, both in terms of the nostalgic thrill of seeing songs from your childhood back on the big screen and in terms of the visuals, because for the most part, the movie looks boring and conventional.
With Avatar: The Way of Water, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, we’re kind of at a watershed (pun intended) moment when it comes to aquatic special effects.
The Little Mermaid just can’t compare in terms of grandeur, but the special effects are by no means bad, it’s just held back by a bland art style.
Buoyed by a handful of standout musical numbers – Under the Sea, Part of Your World, Poor Unfortunate Souls, Kiss the Girl – and a strong lead performance in Bailey, The Little Mermaid should hit all the right nostalgia buttons.
Then again, it’s not like the original is some missing ancient text that’s hard to find. – The Vibes, May 26, 2023
