The Little Mermaid Review – A Victory For Disney?

Last night, Nadia and I went to watch The Little Mermaid live-action remake at the cinema. It was intended as a nice night out for us. A date night if you will. We were pretty excited for the movie, well Nadia was way more excited than me. We were able to get pretty good seats for this massive Disney movie only a few days after the movie opened. Considering that it was a school holiday as well, we were surprised to find about half of the cinema hall empty. Maybe a lot more people had the same premonition about the movie as we did and chose not to watch it. But let’s not get ahead of us.

Disney Live-Action Remakes

Disney has been making live-action remakes of their classic animated films for quite a while now. If we start counting from the Alice in Wonderland (2010) remake starring Johnny Depp, then The Little Mermaid would be the 18th remake in the series. They tend to perform adequately with critics and audiences alike. Nothing to write home about. Especially compared to the classics that they are based on. But with all said and done, both of us have compiled a list of what we liked and didn’t like about the new remake.

5 Reasons To Dive Deeper into the Magical World

1. Halle Bailey’s Captivating Performance – we both thoroughly enjoyed her siren-like voice in The Little Mermaid. She suits the role so perfectly. Mihu was rooting for the older sister to take on the role but after the movie, both of us hands down agreed that Halle was the best singer for Ariel. Halle truly embodied the character’s curiosity, determination, and free-spirited nature. Her renditions of classic songs like “Part of Your World” and “Under the Sea” is both powerful and display all her singing prowess. Kudos to the singer.
2. Amazing Supporting Cast: The supporting cast shines in their respective roles! Nadia’s two favorite performers Awkwafina and Daveed Diggs made her squeal so happily in her seat while watching the entire movie. Melissa McCarthy also brought her comedic genius to the character of Ursula, infusing the sea witch with equal parts villainy and charm. All the cast performed magnificently together and it added depth and charisma to the film.
3. Enchanting Visuals: The live-action adaptation of “The Little Mermaid” showcases such a mesmerizing underwater kingdom. The stunning visual effects really brought to life the breathtaking seascapes, the shimmering scales of the merfolk, and all the picturesque marine life.
4. Staying True to the Story: Although they did alter some parts of the story like not adding in the French chef for comedic effect, and Eric killing Ursula instead of Ariel but overall the theme of the story is still essential there – it’s still the story of how Ariel is on a journey to self-discovery, the importance of family bonds, and the strength of true love. In hindsight, we do love that Disney is now creating a story fitting this generation more – where parents apologize for mistakes and for not listening to their kids. We simply adore the message!
5. Opening Doors for New Fans: With the huge debate of why The Little Mermaid should be black still ongoing even to this day, we couldn’t care less. We find it a good opportunity for more people of color to be represented and see their potential on the big screen! Kudos to Disney for taking a big step in continuing this controversial journey and creating more discourse amongst people.

5 Reasons Why We Sank Into Disappointment

1. Failure to Recapture the Magic of Certain Characters: We are all thinking about it. Flounder, in The Little Mermaid, was the worse recreation since Sonic live-action first came to the theaters. But Disney was smart – they didn’t put flounder in the trailers till the very last minute so fans wouldn’t have enough time to make too much noise like how they did with Sonic. And where is the French chef? We were truly disappointed about that.
2. Questionable Movie Sin: King Triton’s role in this seems more mellow in comparison to the originals. He was definitely angrier when he discovered that Ariel was collecting things in her underwater cave whereas Javier Bardem’s portrayal was more mellow in nature. Also, we were both bewildered that two mere eels can kill the King with one shock wave just because he doesn’t have the trident? That means, Ursula could have just instructed her babies to go on a sniper kill – wait for the moment when he doesn’t have the trident and just sweep in for the kill. She could have been the ruler of the seven seas much earlier! And Scuttle can breathe underwater for 2-3 minutes? Just give him a rock to perch on. SMH
3. Changing Important Storylines: Don’t get us started on Eric’s role in all of this. Eric in the movie was more useful rather than just a pretty Prince that was stuck in his castle because mommy said so. On that note, is he even truly a prince? He is just adopted into the family. If they wanted to make big changes, then they should have gone for it. Not minor things like these. It just overall skews the message slightly. We get it – women empowerment, but now it seems a bit forced at the end. No wonder some people are still rattled by it. It made Ariel seems like she’s doing it just for a man rather than doing it for herself.
4. Lighting Choice: Most of the movie was cast in a dark and gloomy vibe. We understand that they wanted an authentic representation of what living under the sea would be like, but it just takes away some of its magical feel. Some of the kids in the cinema were truly afraid of some of the scenes and some fell asleep quite quickly. And for some parts of the movie, it might be too hard to see the details. Yes, it adds the scary feel of Ursula’s lair but does all of it have to be like that? Even Ariel’s cave? Even Sebastian’s big singing scene?
5. Heavy-Handed Approach to Wokeness: We get the need for inclusion and diversity but the story has to make sense too. The story is primarily filmed on location in various parts of Italy, specifically, the coastal town of Savelletri di Fasano. It would make more sense if most people here have French or Italian accents, or if the people in power were of Italian or French descent. However, the Queen being of her heritage, it would make more sense to film in Jamaica or any African country and have the Little Mermaid be set there rather than in Italy. Now, it just looks sloppy and a soup of inclusiveness that doesn’t make sense and is hard to explain to kids.

Conclusion

We are rather divided in our views, on one hand, we truly enjoy the singing and visuals but on the other hand we see the adaptation fails to rise above our expectations. If we did have to rate it, we would give a 3.5/5. Would we watch it again? Probably when we have kids of our own and if that said kid wants to watch it. We, Nadia most of all, still much prefer her original Little Mermaid, with the message of hope for a better future, with a much better Eric and someone fit for Ariel and not forgetting, Nadia’s favorite French chef.

If you’re in Malaysia please visit here to see showtimes in a cinema near you. And if you like this post feel free to see our review of Spider-Man Across the Spider-verse here.