I was pretty down on the idea of this film from the start. See, I’ve gotten significantly diminishing returns from these live-action remakes of the Disney Classics that we’ve gotten for more than a decade. So far, only the ones that either focus on the villain to make them an anti-hero or a complete reimagining of the story. Those films feel worth my time sitting in the theater, but then we get to the more popular ones, the billion-dollar ticket sales makers. These ones where it’s just the same movie in live-action – copying the shots, acts, and more from the original animated films. They might add a song here, a new dance sequence there, or even take something for the Broadway show and put it, but in the end, it’s the same thing you’ve already seen. These films always feel cynical at best and demeaning of the animated medium at worst. Here in the United States, somehow, live-action is better than animation. It’s more for adults because only kids watch cartoons. It doesn’t matter how well the stories are told or how many barriers even Pixar broke in the end. Real People > Cartoons here.
Now what does that have to do with Disney’s 2023 version of The Little Mermaid? Well, it’s very much what I’ve just stated. This new version is essentially the same film as the original, but since it needs to be longer because modern live-action tentpoles need to be at least two hours long, they add in or stretch out parts more than the original, but the core, all the beats are the same. Now Halle Bailey as Ariel, the titular Mermaid, is great. She sings her tookus off and completely captures the core of Ariel. I think if most people who might have a problem with the idea of her playing the character give it a chance, they’d see she’s pretty much perfect. Jonah Hauer-King plays Prince Eric, and he’s fine in the role one in which they’ve added some actual pathos to the character more than he had in the old animated film, but his new original song leaves a lot to be desired. Noma Dumezweni plays Queen Selina, the new character, Eric’s mother. She’s also fine but not in it enough to make a significant impact. Javier Bardem plays King Triton, and I feel he wasn’t using all his powers in this role. He’s very much going through the motions in this movie, at least for him. Now Melissa McCarthy is having fun playing Ursula and keeps the flavor and energy of the animated character in this. She’s fun to watch. Daveed Diggs is alright as Sebastian, but he just had too much to overcome from the shadow cast by Samuel E. Wright, but it’s also different seeing the character as a realistic crab instead of a cartoon one. Now I didn’t expect Awkwafina to be Scuttle, the bird from which Ariel learns about the surface world, but it works but also didn’t expect the character to be in it so much more than before.
Now Rob Marshall I the director, with David Magee as the screenwriter. Also, we have Lin-Manuel Miranda handling the music with whatever new songs and additions to the wonderful music Alan Menken from the original. (Lin-Manuel is getting all the Disney bags ain’t he?) The biggest issue with this film is the bland look underwater compared to how the film looks once Ariel is on the surface in the castle. Everything gets warmer and fuller in how it looks on screen. The CG while in the theater feels dark and murky, while not as murky as I thought from clips I’ve seen on Ads on Twitter, but it’s not that much better. Yet when I see the commercials on TV, it looks markedly better. It makes me feel that the film is color corrected for our 4K tvs to watch this on Disney+ versus the theater. It makes me plan to watch it again once it’s available. So with all that, I think this movie is ok, but I’m not the audience for this at all. It’s well made to a point, and I think it will probably be great for many people, especially those who really loved the old film or want to see a Black Mermaid Princess.
Score: B –
