The Little Mermaid - Review
My thoughts on the film.
Honestly, I didn't like it much. Mind you, I wasn't all that sold on the animated version, either, and this movie was (to its credit?) fairly faithful to it. I was hoping it wouldn't be. Is that weird?
I only went to see it because I got a free ticket. I would not pay to watch this. Even still, that's 135 minutes of my life I won't get back.
Let's start with the things I liked so I don't seem like a completely miserable a-hole.
Thing I liked #1: The best part of this movie is the casting for Ariel. I have no idea why people are weird about a black mermaid. They could be golden or green or silver or blue. Literally any colour is acceptable, surely?
Halle Bailey did a decent job with the material she was given. I'd have like her hair to be redder, but oh well. If anything, I think she deserved a better part in a better film. The other people of colour felt shoe-horned in as an afterthought and an exercise in box-ticking. I'm no expert in diversity and representation, but this film doesn't feel like it's hitting the mark.
Thing I liked #2: Some of the scenes are really beautiful. Most are corny and terrible, but some are beautiful.
Don't deny what you are
This film is already on the back foot with me, because I loathe the premise of it.
You're a mermaid, kid! Stop denying what you are!
- Me, while watching it
Don't give up everything you are for some guy, least of all some guy you don't even know.
In the original tale (the original original, the one the animated version is based on), walking is immensely painful for her. Like walking on knives. That I like. Give me some of that! If they'd kept that bit in, I would have enjoyed this film a lot more. If it had been written as a tragedy, rather than a romance. To make real and physical the pain of denying your nature for a fantasy. The price of trying to magick away the bits of yourself that you consider inconvenient. Trimming your Self for some guy you like the look of. Make it hurt! It should! Because it does! Don't glamorise it.
And - she's a kid! A child! She is making terrible decisions, and not listening to her parent - who is actually right about pretty much everything.
Hardly needs saying, but the underpinning messages in this film are not ones I think little girls need to be absorbing. Most especially about changing and denying your fundamental Self for some boy. I am aware that the same can be said of many Disney movies, but in my opinion, this is one of the worst.
There's a cool piece of art I saw a while back that sums up how I feel about this story:
Voiceless
In 2016 researchers noted a problem with The Little Mermaid. For the first time in a Disney movie, the male characters speak significantly more than female ones. But of course, you might say - this is a story where our heroine sacrifices her voice. In fact, the plot centres around it. (Sorry, spoiler.) Sure, Jan, so why do the women in the next five Disney movies speak even less, with men speaking 3x more than women?
Let's not forget, women are perceived to dominate conversation if they speak as little as one third of the time.
So you can see... I already had beef with this before I started watching.
Of course, all this is before someone got their money-grabbing live-adaption snip-snapping claws into it. At that point, it just gets worse.
Sebastian is terrible. Flounder isn't much better.
The tails are not the worst mermaid tails I've ever seen, but they still look bolted on and unnatural. Of course they do - they are! There is no way to make them look anything but! That's one reason this film was a piss-poor candidate for live adaption.
I hoped - a slim hope - that the adaption would have been taken as an opportunity to address some of the problems in the original film. Make Ariel less - sorry - wet. Make her ballsy. Not reckless and stupid (that fucking cart scene), but brave and smart and resourceful. Give her a character arc where she comes to accept and prioritise herself. Make Eric more interesting. Have the parent do a damn sight less back-pedalling at the end. He was right - human beings are terrible. We are poisoning the sea.
Her choice to swap a tail for legs, and doom herself to live on land forever was made in the heat of adolescent neurological re-structuring. It was probably unwise and is likely to be regretted later.
Her father was almost as wet as she was, and that song Eric sings (extremely earnestly) about Unchartered Waters had me cringing right off my seat and into the aisles.
I don't recommend. Sorry. A cynical slice of me almost thinks they only made this film to stop someone pulling a "Blood and Honey" with the story or characters. I dunno, that might have been preferable to this.
Wasn't quite a washout, but I won't be watching it again.
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Comments (35)
Oi, L.C. I had a comment on this, but I think that I'd like to turn it into an article and have Your article embed in the link to it at the end. Are You okay with that?
I love reviews like this! Very fun to read, not full of jargon nor written like a bland newspaper review. Well done and congrats on TS! I'm glad this was shared in the raise your voice thread today. 😊 I do have some areas of your critique that I disagree with. I think that Ariel's story, according to Disney, is about making your dreams come true. She wanted to be part of the human world before meeting Eric, and I think she would have taken Ursula up on a deal to achieve that if she didn't rescue him. The crux of Ariel's story isn't that she fell in love at first sight and gave up her identity for a man. It's that she found something, someone, even better than the human trinkets, and wanted to give up her world for him. This is an allegory for what marriage ends up being (for the man and the woman); you have to sacrifice your known world, and even rediscover your identity, in order for it to work. And that's all these stories are anyway -- allegories. They aren't life manuals. Also, isn't Tangled basically the same basic premise? Main girl obsessed with a different world, finds some way to leave an overprotective parental figure, ends up falling in love, realizes she's always meant to be in that world all along? (Also, Tangled was GREAT! Why does LM get all the hate?) Now, I didn't watch the remake. I hate nearly all of the live action remakes. The only one that stayed true to the core story and worked as a film, even changing things to make it better, was Cinderella, IMHO.
Okay, that's odd. I know I left an overly lengthy comment on here. *Sighs* It must've gotten deleted by Vocal's spam filter again. Oh well, that's what I get for attaching links in a comment.
Sorry, I am a true fan of the animated version and have watched it many times, Love the characters and the songs. Thank you for a great review and I will certainly pass up on this since I do not like movies that bring animated characters into reality. The only such movie I enjoyed and even better than the animated version was The Beauty and the Beast.
Congrats on top story! I haven't seen the live action yet but being an Ariel myself born in the 90s the animated was not one of my favorites either, mainly because I hated always being asked if I was named Ariel..like the mermaid? I do disagree though with the general sentiment of stop denying what you are or Ariel having changed specifically for a man. Both in the original story and in the animated version her fascination with humans predates meeting Prince Eric. While I agree it’s a little ridiculous to encourage specifically a teenager to pursue changing themselves no matter the cost, I kinda felt the sentiment was coming from a good place? Taken out of a fantasy context lots of people want to change their situation. People are born into poverty who aspire to become millionaires, people are born to traditional blue collar families but aspire to follow artistic dreams. Is it giving Disney too much credit to hope this is the message they were intending to send? Probably. Really bummed though to hear they didn't pull more from the original story this time. It’s themes are much more interesting. I know it’s not Disney’s usual but I was hoping that in 2023 they might have the guts to go a little gritter and stay more faithful to the source content. My favorite part of the original story are the existentialist themes.
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Thank you for your thoughts. I'm probably going to watch it on Disney+ I like Mellisa McCarthy and I want to check out her Ursula. In general I am over the live action remakes they continue to shove out in the world. What is wrong with an original story? As long as I am on my soap box if they insist on remaking old titles why not use the Muppets, they own the Muppets. Miss piggy as Ursula anyone?
I enjoy a review that doesn't pull punches. This was one of those. I haven't felt the urge to watch the movie and given your take on it I probably won't. Great job, L.C.
Congrats on your Top Story! Hmm. I’ll probably eventually watch it once it’s on Disney+ but all the live action remakes have been pretty disappointing 😬. I had high hopes for this one!!
Great review, very honest and no pandering...and well done on the deserved Top Story! What are you reviewing next?
So nice
Awesome
nice
Blimey! That is some review! I LOVE how you've just come out there and said it. Oh, and congrats on a richly deserved Top Story.
L.C. thank you for taking the bullet for me on this one! I’ve been on the fence about watching this movie and had decided I’d wait for it to come out on Disney+ as that way I don’t waste my money. The thing that intrigues me most about it is its casting but even then it’s only because of David Diggs (I’m a big Hamilton Fan!!). I appreciate the insights you added in this one, like the original tale! I didn’t realize that it hurt her to walk. I did know that the switch cuts out her tongue and she never does get to be with the prince. I also appreciated the piece of art you added in this article! I really value your opinions and insights on this movie! If I could recommend a redemption movie, check out the live action Peter Pan and Wendy that came out in the end of May! That was a great movie! Or of you need a redemption Little Mermaid thing, read “Part of Your World” by Liz Brazwell from the Twisted Tales series. It presents Ariel in a light that I think you would find satisfying! Thank you for putting this together and congratulations on Top Story!! 🎉
congratulations and keep it up
Congratulations L.C. On the Top Story. Honesty is refreshing. I haven’t seen this movie yet, but I didn’t watch the animated one either.
I actually enjoyed this movie 🍿Nice Review and Also Congratulations on your Top Story😊💖‼️
Congratulations on your top story!
I can honestly say I have not seen either the animated or real person version, though I do think Hailey Bailey looks and sounds beautiful in the trailer. I do agree with your very valid point about Disney's movies for little girls. If they want to keep the princess theme going, could it be the princess works to save the ocean or helps to build a better world than just the tired theme of waiting or sacrificing for Prince Charming? I enjoyed your review. Well done!
Great review! I never saw either version, and now I don't feel at all like I missed out!
Congrats on the TS
Truly awesome review, L.C.! I haven't seen the new version yet but appreciated the thoughts and honesty very much. ☺️ Awesome job!
Ah, the complete disappointment continues with the live action Disney movies. I honestly don’t like any of them. The only reason I’ll watch this movie is maybe just to laugh at Prince Eric, who sounds dreadful.
Bravo!!! Love this honest review!!! ❤️❤️💕