The Little Mermaid (2023)

[Eric Atreides]

Discuss

[joselowe]

Saw an advanced screening yesterday. Though the movie was amazing. The aesthetics were much better than I expected. Also I saw people talking about hot mermans in the movie. You literally only see a large pool of mermaids and mermans at the end credits. Didn’t see the original so I don’t know what’s considered a spoiler for a remake. 

Edited May 25, 2023 by joselowe

[Flopped]

12 hours ago, joselowe said:

Saw an advanced screening yesterday. Though the movie was amazing. The aesthetics were much better than I expected. Also I saw people talking about hot mermans in the movie. You literally only see a large pool of mermaids and mermans at the end credits. Didn’t see the original so I don’t know what’s considered a spoiler for a remake. 

 

Watch the original, it's 85 mins of pure cinematic bliss. There's a reason that after 34 years people are so invested and opinionated about this remake. It all starts with the original's timeless appeal. 

[Morieris]

On 5/26/2023 at 12:43 AM, Flopped said:

 

Watch the original, it's 85 mins of pure cinematic bliss. There's a reason that after 34 years people are so invested and opinionated about this remake. It all starts with the original's timeless appeal. 

 

There's definitely value in it, but from another perspective, as someone who only saw it in like 2011 for the first time (I was born after it had its theatrical release and somehow my parents got me Mulan and Cinderella but not this on VHS), it's not something I have a lot of nostalgia for (Except the original Under the Sea.)

 

 

Anyway, onto this movie.

 

I like it more than the original. Halle is so sweet but I feel there's so much to establish under water, Ariel herself gets a little lost amongst the personalities of everyone and everything else. On land, she's very charming and I love the expansion of Eric and the moral of "Let's not encourage segregation, shall we?"

 

I was on the fence about seeing it and only paid to support Halle, but I'm quite glad I did and might go see it again.

[filmlover]

An uncreative but entertaining update of the classic animated movie. Like the other live-action remakes of the Disney Renaissance Big Four (Beauty and the Beast '17, Aladdin '19, The Lion King '19), everyone with any familiarity with the original will be completely unsurprised with how the entire movie plays out and no one will ever consider these versions to be the definitive take on these stories. Also thought the new songs were pretty weak and unmemorable (sorry, LMM!). That said, it speaks to the magic of the original that a number of its qualities remain in tact even in an inferior retelling, and the strengths of this movie probably make it the most satisfying of the four remakes, particularly due to the star-making performance at its center.

 

Halle Bailey is absolutely wonderful. She's sweet and lovely and confident, just as Ariel should be. And most important of all, she has some set of pipes. Her rendition of "Part of Your World" is just as chills-inducing as Jodi Benson's remains 34 years later.

 

The other actors are fine in her shadow, though there was a real "here for the paycheck" vibe to Javier Bardem's King Triton performance. Jonah Hauer-King is an appealing Eric, here more than just the handsome cipher the character was in the original. The other standout is, unsurprisingly, Melissa McCarthy, clearly having a grand time camping it up as required as Ursula.

 

It won't win over the cynics who wish these Disney remakes offered a stronger reason to justify their existence besides "money, duh" but the strong production values (minus some iffy CGI) and "star is born" performance from Bailey are enough to make this one of the better live-action updates to date.

 

B

[dxmatrixdt]

i am giving this a high 7, but if she and the mermaids at the end twirled around in circles like in the animated version, this would have gotten an 8!  there was no resurrected mermaids at the end of this one from Ursula's lair.

[Webslinger]

It may not have much of a creative reason to exist, but the live action remake of The Little Mermaid is, for the most part, pretty good. It has its shortcomings, but this remake seems to have a solid understanding of what makes the 1989 original work at heart and mostly hews to it by getting the major characters and songs right and letting the rest fall into place around them. This film was always going to live or die by the performance of the actress in the title role, and luckily, Halle Bailey delivers. Bailey’s performance as Ariel has all the traditional markers of a star-maker, as she confidently eases into Ariel’s wonder-filled and curious persona; she also proves equally adept at nailing the big musical numbers (her take on “Part of Your World” is about on par with Jodi Benson’s in the original – and that’s no small compliment) and the physical comedy once Ariel reaches the surface. Though she does not get much screen time, Melissa McCarthy is clearly having a great time as Ursula, and she sinks her teeth into the part with gusto and delivers a solid rendition of “Poor Unfortunate Souls;” it’s a reminder of how good McCarthy can be when she has the right material to work with. Most of the other live action stars are serviceable at best, but the voice work from Awkwafina as Scuttle (casting that actually works surprisingly well even if it seems odd at first glance) and Daveed Diggs as Sebastian is a lot of fun. And though it could have been brighter and I would have liked seeing livelier character animation, much of the film does look visually appealing. This remake obviously won’t supplant the original in most viewers’ minds if given the choice of which version to watch, but this Little Mermaid is a solidly entertaining update that feels mostly connected with the spirit of its originator.

 

B