Movie Review - The Little Mermaid

Director: Rob Marshall
Genre: Adventure/ Family/ Musical/ Fantasy
Runtime: 135 minutes
Year: 2023
Starring: Halle Bailey, Jonah Hauer-King, Melissa McCarthy, Javier Bardem, Noma Dumezwemi, Jacob Tremblay, Awkwafina, Daveed Diggs
 
Description: A young mermaid (Halle Bailey) makes a deal with a sea witch (Melissa McCarthy) to trade her beautiful voice for human legs so she can discover the world above water and impress a prince (Jonah Hauer-King)

Review: Disney know how to create a successful animation. Turning these same animated movies into live-action flicks has not been as successful. There have been a few hits, but I can say that “The Little Mermaid” is not really one of them.

Even though the choice of Halle Bailey as Ariel was unacceptable according to many fans, she does a good job. She has a beautiful singing voice and manages to give Ariel more character than the animated version. Melissa McCarthy as Ursula the sea witch also deserves some kudos, she was chosen perfectly. Javier Bardem on the other hand, playing Ariel’s father, really has no idea what to do with his character.
It's a live-action film, with of course use of a lot of CGI, but it still feels too animated for my liking. And it’s the underwater scenes. They could have made it more realistic.

I really do like the fact that they gave Prince Eric more substance and a background. But the fact that Ariel is in love with him after only seeing him once is still strange.

I do think there are worse Disney live-action films, but “The Little Mermaid” is just okay for me.

Rating: 3/ 5