Movie time: The Little Mermaid(2023)
Another live action from Disney which nobody asked for but got. The Little Mermaid directed by Rob Marshall who directed the hit musical, Chicago (2002) and Marry Poppins Returns (2011). The film is written by Davin Magee who worked alongside Rob Marshall as a screenwriter in Mary Poppins Returns (2011). The Little Mermaid is a live adaption from the classic animated film, The Little Mermaid (1981). I felt underwhelmed from the experience and have questions.
My first impressions was the live action was just pointless and did not have any special features for the adaption to stand out from the animated version. What bothered me in this adaption was the lack of details in the characters ethics. Wanting Ariel to be portrayed as a black mermaid, you should at least focus also on her background such as her father, King Triton who is portrayed by Javier Bardem to help the audience to understand the characters background a bit more. Her sisters were different races with Black, White, and Asian appearances and it clearly shows that the director just wanted to involve people from different backgrounds but left out details. This shouldn't be an error that a movie should have. It made me question what race was Ariels mother, was she Asian? Black or White? This is one of the details which can be seen clearly that the casting directors and director did not really put any effort in detail.
When Ariel loses her voice, in the animation version, she completely loses her voice and is not able to say or make sounds. I noticed either it was a mistake or is an intentional detail where it is not necessarily to be added in the live action version. Another scene is Scuttle being able to breathe in water for a long time. Yes, a BIRD talking in the water for more than a land animal could breathe under water. It just made me laugh how ridiculous this is and how little detail and thought is bought into making this film.
Although the details were noticeable, the song" Under the sea" was one of the scenes which I would go back and visit. The scene involved bright and beautiful colours which made the scene fun and happy to watch. My opinion, I found that it is more entertaining compared to the original. Another song is "Kiss the Girl" gave the scene a heart warming and a comforting scene to watch. It helped the scene to shine more and did help carry the film. Ariel(Halle Bailey) has a beautiful voice and her singing is one of the highlights from the movie. Having a singer star in musicals is probably one of the best decisions this film can make. She is able to sing a long range and really lived up to the original.
Performance in the movie was simple and nothing special. Having talented actors on the set, they could have done it better and more entertaining including the script which tried to create humour but failed. I did have some laughs in moment when The sea witch portrayed by Melissa McCarthy, visited Ariel after she had a fight with her father. I wouldn't say it is a bad live actions Disney has made and I would put it in the decent criteria because it has scenes where it does make me feel butterflies and entertaining.
Overall, the movie lacked the joy, mystery and romance that it had in the original. I didn't find it the most engaging and I wouldn't put it as one of the best adaptions which Disney has made. Nobody should be coming out watching and having questions about the movie in ways that I have put above. What I recommend is giving the film a bit more joy because this is a very intense, some romantic scenes but without the humour from the original, it did not hit the mark.