Movie Review: The Little Mermaid

Before the release of The Little Mermaid, the state of the Disney live-action remakes was dire. The most recent venture was Peter Pan & Wendy, a film that, despite an interesting hook, was drab, boring, and an overwhelmingly disappointing entry from The Green Knight director David Lowery.

Coming into Mermaid, I was ready to be underwhelmed. My expectations could not have been more wrong.

The first thing that jumped out to me were the colors. While time after time, these live-action remakes are gray, dark, and toned down, this was not. The underwater scenes were colorful and vibrant, and the scenes on land did not deter this momentum. Both worlds were bright and exciting, and it felt like I was a kid watching the original all over again.

At times, the animation was a bit wonky, specifically when it came to the mermaids. This film was not on the level of something like Avatar when it came to melding the humans with CGI, but the uncanny feeling did fade as the film went on.

The choice to make the animals far more realistic was also an interesting one. These characters retained their animated, over-the-top voices (not always a good thing), but they looked like actual animals.

On the topic of voices, Awkwafina's turn as Scuttle was the low-point of the film. Her schtick is annoying and exhausting, as it has been throughout her career. She did tremendous damage to Raya and The Last Dragon, and was thankfully featured rarely enough here that she did not have the screen time to drag the movie down. Her rap, featuring lyrics written by the equally-unbearable Lin-Manuel Miranda, was undoubtedly the weakest scene of the film.

But the high-point of Mermaid was unquestionably the performance of Halle Bailey as Ariel. She was pitch-perfect, both literally and metaphorically, for the entirety of the two hour and fifteen minute runtime. Her singing voice is beautiful, and she captures all the magic of every song here.

The role of Ariel, on the acting side of things, is not the most challenging in the world, or perhaps I just think that because of how easy Bailey made it look. Her scenes on land with Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King), in which she is left voiceless, were incredibly charming and cute, again pitch-perfect for this film. This was even more impressive because Hauer-King, while solid, did not deliver the most enthralling performance here. Bailey carried this section of the film without a word.

Bailey's next role is in a new version of The Color Purple, and while she's already a celebrity, it feels like 2023 will catapult her into superstardom. You don't get more eyes on you than in a Disney film, and now with this new interpretation of a Pulitzer Prize winner/Broadway play/Spielberg film, it feels like every person that consumes entertainment will know her name by the end of the year.

It is also worth noting Melissa McCarthy's performance as Ursula. Of the two figures of stature under the sea, her turn here was the far more captivating. Javier Bardem as King Triton felt, frankly, phoned in. McCarthy, meanwhile, seemed to relish the chance to play Ursula. Her casting wasn't the obvious choice, and not everyone was on board when she was announced, but she delivered here, big-time.

Mermaid is not a perfect film, but it is a fun one that delivers on the things one expects from a Disney film. It's fun to look at, the musical numbers are big and fun, and it feels like it has a heart.

Grade: B+

Disney has been on a difficult streak with these live-action films in recent years, with films like Pinocchio, Disenchanted, and the aforementioned Peter Pan & Wendy all missing with audiences. Mermaid provides some hope for the future, most immediately with the upcoming Haunted Mansion.

Follow Jake on Twitter here.

Follow Jake on Facebook here.