The Little Mermaid review - Disney's Best Live-Action Adaptation, But Please, No More

Director: Rob Marshall

Run Time: 2 hours 15 minutes

Every few months, Disney announces the next film they plan to adapt into live-action and each announcement usually receives groans and question marks. The same happened when The Little Mermaid was announced, but the studio, thanks to Halle Bailey, has officially delivered an inspirational and fresh take. 

This adaptation is undoubtedly the best live-action production they’ve created. Halle completely owns the character of Ariel, especially vocally, and thanks to Alan Menken’s return and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s spice, some of which goes too far, the original magic is captured without being a lackluster, direct copy. 

The Little Mermaid maintains the storyline of the original animated version in that Ariel is fascinated by the human world and makes sacrifices in order to be a part of it; Prince Eric’s (Jonah Hauer-King) family history is altered in this take and his desires are fleshed out more. 

This Prince wants to explore and build community, while King Triton (Javier Bardem) still wants to maintain separation from the human world because of the death of his wife, and Ursula (Melissa McCarthy) still wants to regain the throne. Scuttle (voiced by Awkwafina), Flounder (voiced by Jacob Tremblay), and Sebastian (voiced by Daveed Diggs) are along for the ride to keep Ariel safe and entertained, but she won’t be satisfied until she knows the surface world.

To begin, Halle Bailey. Remember her name and don’t forget it. From the trailers, to the red carpet, under the sea and above it, she is charismatic, humble, and a songstress. Perfect casting to carry a nostalgic role such as Ariel, in a movie considered to be one of the top 15 animated Disney movies of all time. 

Many Disney remakes faltered by recruiting amazing actors and actresses that couldn’t quite carry the singing, while other remakes used casts with star power or overseas marketability, but not much else. Halle can do it all. She can play charming, naive, stubborn, curious, and powerful: she is Ariel and the next generation of Disney fans deserve her.

The remaining cast is made up of standouts in their own right, but few really match Halle’s Ariel. Sebastian is mostly played comfortably by Diggs. Because of the VFX work, there isn’t nearly as much personality in Sebastian’s face—I’m sure we all remember the sass he could deliver with just a furrowed brow or lip—but Diggs can sing and rap, so the role functions. 

The surprise VO work is Tremblay’s Flounder. Visually, Flounder is frighteningly real, but Tremblay’’s voice work was endearing and a bright spot. Awkwafina’s work as Scuttle felt like a ‘thank you’ for Raya and The Last Dragon. Scuttle is much more interesting in the original and feels flat here. I love Javier Bardem, but something was missing in the casting of him. 

Either King Triton needed more screen time or they should have cast someone different. I don’t feel like he ever brings the gravitas to the role that we know he can bring. He embodies the stallworth father figure, but this felt like a coincidence. He doesn’t quite feel like the king.

The real standout, and standout of the original as well, is Ursula and Melissa McCarthy plays her well. I actually wish she’d been given more free rein because she’s one of the few if only actresses in the film that is an equal match for Halle’s Ariel. 

“Poor Unfortunate Souls” is one of the best renditions in the film, only bogged down by some poor graphic work when Melissa moves far away in the frame. Otherwise, she’s wonderful to watch. I agree with the fans calling for a villain-only film, similar to Maleficent, as I do think Melissa would do well with it. But more on Disney live-action films later.

If you’re watching The Little Mermaid for the music, then unlike most remakes, there’s more good than bad. Menken and Lin-Manuel update the instrumentation to most songs, edit the lyrics sparingly, and add a few new charts. 

Everything felt fresh to me and the songs I love, namely “Part of Your World”, “Poor Unfortunate Souls”, and “Kiss the Girl”, are still amazing. I’ll probably always love the originals more, but these renditions aren’t a disappointment at all. They’re updated and lively. 

The new music, interestingly enough, is a bit of a misstep, which is curious because Lin-Manuel dubbed himself the person in charge of not effing up the music. The eff up is “The Scuttlebutt” which literally feels like a flex of his writing skills all because Scuttle and Sebastian are voiced by musicians. The song doesn’t work and someone should have said no. 

In terms of VFX work and color, don’t fall for the mistake of putting stock into the trailers. The movie is bright and colorful when it needs to be, with a darker gradient when necessary, and most of that darkness happens in the end. I don’t enjoy the notorious third-arc spectacle where heroes and villains clash and the battle turns into a huge whirlwind of color, but The Little Mermaid doesn’t spend too much time here. 

Visually, most of the movie was fine. Yes, Sebastian and his CGI crew could use a little more personality, but that doesn’t seem to be a priority for Disney right now. I mean, they made an entire movie of emotion-less safari animals and didn’t seem to care. Almost every live-action remake suffers from this issue. The only real VFX issue for me was anytime Ursula wasn’t in a close-up; everything else I could choose to ignore.

I’ve skipped reflection on Price Eric so far because he was the biggest question mark as I left the screening. His chemistry with Halle was solid. He has the look. He even performed a new song, about vulnerability of all things, while atop the mast of a ship. But every time he was on screen, I wondered if he could really hang, could he really sing, could he really own the role. 

I didn’t hate the rendition of “Wild Uncharted Waters”, but it definitely didn’t move me like the classics. I do appreciate that they wrote him original material though. It may take a second viewing or a few more roles from him, but I’m leaning towards this being a great casting choice that will lead to roles more so designed for him. Overall, he does well as someone that doesn’t falter when standing opposite Halle’s Ariel, but also knows the hierarchy.

The live-action train at Disney isn’t stopping any time soon. Barry Jenkins, whom I love, is currently at work on a prequel to The Lion King (2019). I trust him, but I have questions. Hercules, one of Disney’s best, is under the helm of Guy Richie. 

I trust the source material, but I’m still afraid. And Robin Hood, my favorite Disney movie ever, is floating as a rumor as well. The Little Mermaid taught us to not judge a movie too early, but producers have to consider how many times the audience has been burned before. For these reasons, I think The Little Mermaid should be the last for a while.

The film earns a 4 out of 5.