A One Mann’s Movies review of “The Little Mermaid” (2023).
My disdain for the Mouse company in repeatedly raping and pillaging their animated classics to produce often tawdry live-action remakes is well known. (I described “The Lion King” as “gorgeously pointless”). And the gestation of this one has not been without controversy with the casting of the black Halle Bailey generating a twitter storm of #NotMyAriel passion.
Well, I went in with hope, but still low expectations. And I was absolutely entranced by this one. And Halle Bailey, in a career-making performance, can justifiably take her big wet tail and slap those racist-doubters around the face with it. For she is genuinely mesmerising.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
(You don’t really need me to tell you this, do you!?) Ariel (Halle Bailey), the youngest daughter of King Triton (Javier Bardem), is a rebellious teen obsessed with all things human and desperate to better understand the human world. When she rescues, and falls for, dashing young Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) her despair is complete. As Hans Christian Andersen says “a mermaid has no tears, and therefore she suffers so much more“. But help might be on hand courtesy of Aunt Ursula (Melissa McCartney) – a sea witch. But her deal comes at a terrible price.
Certification:
UK: PG; US: PG. (From the BBFC: “Mild threat.”).
Talent:
Starring: Halle Bailey, Javier Bardem, Jonah Hauer-King, Melissa McCarthy, Noma Dumezweni, Art Malik, Daveed Diggs, Jacob Tremblay, Awkwafina.
Directed by: Rob Marshall.
Written by: David Magee.
Twitter Handle: #LittleMermaid, #TheLittleMermaid.
Mute perfection. Ariel (Halle Bailey) and Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) “Floating in a blue lagoon”. (Source: Disney).
“The Little Mermaid” Review:
Positives:
- This is Halle Bailey’s movie debut (aside from a small part in a Queen Latifah film called “Last Holiday” when she was 6 years-old). And she knocks it out of the park. Her singing voice (as an existing R&B duo with her sister Chloe) gives you chills. And she has just such a natural, wide-eyed wondrous look that she is a natural Disney star. Simply wonderful.
- Elsewhere the rest of the actors are cast just perfectly. (Hats off to the casting team of Tiffany Little Canfield and Bernard Telsey). For example, Jarvier Bardem and Melissa McCarthey feel like they were both born to play Triton and Ursula respectively. Daveed Diggs ably fills the shoes of the late Samuel E. Wright, who voiced Sebastian in the original 1989 film. (Sadly Wright died just a couple of years ago, so never got to see this). And the ever reliable Awkwafina brings the seagull Scuttle to comic life in her inimitable way. Also, it’s fabulous that they gave Jodi Benson, the voice for the original Ariel, a small part in the film as a market seller.
- Sit through the end-titles, and there is page after page after page of “Graphic Artists” who have contributed to this film. And it shows. The film looks simply glorious, and seeing Ariel’s hair float and billow in the water as she moves is a glory to behold.
- You can only marvel at the original music and lyrics of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. The music genuinely gave me goosebumps at particular points: the first rendition of “Part of Your World” (“What is a fire and why does it… what’s the word? … Buuurrrrnn”); the rock-breast-thrust (guys… you know what I mean… though the shells are not as prominent here!); and the utterly gorgeous chorus to “Kiss the Girl”. The film is dedicated to the late Ashman. And he wrote such CLEVER lyrics. There’s the obvious ones (“What do they got? A lotta sand. We got a hot crustacean band!”), but I particularly like that rock scene again where Ariel effectively breaks the fourth wall and talks to the kids in the audience: “Watch and YOU’LL see. Someday I’ll be. Part of YOUR world!”. So smart.
- David McGee’s script stays pretty true to the original screenplay, but throws in some nice tweaks here and there in an update to modern sensibilities. Ursula adds a quiet caveat to the ‘legs’ spell that Ariel can’t know that she has to kiss Eric: it helpfully makes Ariel look less like a slut gagging for some one-on-one Eric action! And in the finale, it is Ariel herself who is empowered to defeat her nemesis.
Negatives:
- At 2 hours and 15 minutes, this is a long old slog for young kids to sit through. (Who am I kidding, this was a long old slog for my bladder after 3 cups of morning coffee before going in…. I raced for the loos as Rob Marshall’s name came up!).
- The new songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda I found a mixed affair. All in all, I’m not sure they added a lot and they seem out of kilter with the very familiar Menken & Ashman classics.
- “Wild Uncharted Waters” (which screams “Oscar song”) is nice enough, apart from a strangely added “again” at the end of one of the lines. But in terms of performance, it feels a tad beyond Jonah Hauer-King’s vocal ability.
- “For the First Time” I personally found intensely irritating.
- And finally there is a rap that could have come straight out of “Hamilton”. Called “The Scuttlebutt” it is a noise that has the benefit of being blissfully short.
- It’s a minor thing, but I missed having the range of voices on the soundtrack that the original Little Mermaid provided. “Under the Sea” is largely a duet between Daveed Diggs and Halle Bailey and the variety of sea-creatures on show remain, in the main, mute. Also, Ursula’s pet eels Flotsam and Jetsam – always a good trivia quiz answer – remain silent as well.
Triggers
Although it seems odd to reference “Triggers” in a kid’s PG film, I do remember the “huge Sea Witch” at the end of the original animation almost sending my kids scuttling under their cinema seats in fear. And with the benefit of modern effects and sound, Melissa McCarthy’s new rendition is even more butt-clenchingly-terrifying. It’s not a reason not to take kids to see the film, but parents should perhaps warn them that “it’s only for a couple of minutes and it all turns out fine”!
Summary Thoughts on “The Little Mermaid”
I was really impressed by this film. Through the expert direction of the safe-pair-of-hands Rob Marshall, it carried my emotions with it throughout the journey. I’m not ashamed to admit that in the final scene, when a tear rolled effortlessly down Halle Bailey’s cheek, one of mine followed suit in perfect time! I wouldn’t normally say this for a Disney live-action flick. But this one should be a “must see” for parents to take their kids to during the summer. And indeed, it’s a wonderful (and for once, not disappointing) trip down Nostalgia Avenue for all older folks who fell in love with the original animation 34 (no, stop, really??) years ago.
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Trailer for “The Little Mermaid”
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpGo2_d3oYE .
