Ladies, and gentlemen, today, we review the latest live-action remake that Disney just released a couple weeks ago, during Memorial Day weekend, as a matter of fact. It is a remake of the very Disney animated film that started the Disney Renaissance Era that went from 1989-1999. Yes, that’s right! It is a remake of the 1989 Disney animated film, The Little Mermaid. This time, we have Halle Bailey as Ariel, Javier Bardem as King Triton, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula the Sea Witch, Awkwafina as Scuttle, and more. So now, here is my review of the remake that was released 33.5-34 years later following the animated film’s release.
Plot: A Mermaid named Ariel (Halle Bailey) longs to go to the human world, against her father’s wishes. But one day, when she gives her voice to the Sea Witch, Ursula (Melissa McCarthy), she gets her chance to go to the human world, and stay there, if she can get Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) to fall in love with her, and kiss her, or else belong to Ursula for eternity. Will Ariel’s plan succeed?
Alright, so I’ve been hearing a variety of reviews for this remake, ranging from people saying things like it’s one of Disney’s most woke films, to this remake being better than the original 1989 Disney animated film, and things like that. So, do people stand correct on both of those opinions? Well, there’s no right, or wrong when it comes to opinions. Still, we’ll address the latter issue now, and the former one later on in this review. First of all, the 1989 Disney animated film is such a classic film. Of course , the same can be said about all the other Disney animated films that Disney had made into live-action in recent years. So, it’s definitely hard for any of these remakes to outshine their original animated counterparts. Still, in a case like this new Little Mermaid, there are a few aspects of it that people may probably like better about it. First of all, there are the songs. Yes, “Daughters Of Triton,” and “Les Poisson,” we’re absent from this new remake. So, the comedy found in this new version shall be missed. However, we still have songs like “Fathoms Below,” “Part Of Your World,” “Under The Sea,” “Poor Unfortunate Souls,” “Kiss The Girl,” and all of those. We also have some new music, including a new one that Ariel sings called “For The First Time,” a solo from Prince Eric called “Uncharted Waters,” and a really, really hysterical rap song that Scuttle, and Sebastian sing, as a duo, called “The Scuttle Butt.” I mean for that last song that I mentioned, to have a song called “Scuttle Butt,” and a character named Scuttle singing it is just brilliant in and of itself. Oh, and to have both Alan Menken (who wrote the songs for the 1989 Disney animated film), and Lin Manuel Miranda team up for the music of this film, wow, definitely a great collaboration this time around. Additionally, although this remake does in fact have a lot of the same spirit of the original animated film, it seems to really put it’s own spin on it that didn’t seem to be found as much in remakes like Aladdin, or The Lion King, for instance. I mean it almost seems to feel like The Little Mermaid with a Pirates Of The Caribbean vibe added to it. Okay, okay, maybe that sounds like an exaggeration, since 2023’s The Little Mermaid, wasn’t violent like the Pirates Of The Caribbean films were, along with the fact that this film was rated PG, and not PG-13, and things like those. However, I will at least say that this film seems to have that type of vibe due to some of the music that plays, and was played during the time period that both movies were set in, that there were ships in both films, and more. Additionally, much like many of the remakes that Disney has churned out in more recent years, Disney does well with fleshing out a good majority of it’s characters. For instance you understand King Triton’s motives for hating humans, you seem to understand a little more of Ariel’s motive to want to go to the surface, and understand humans, and their way of life, and things like that. Ursula the Sea Witch was also really well developed. It was really great how Disney designed her, and things that revolved around her. Oh, and to have Melissa McCarthy play the Sea Witch, Javier Bardem playing King Triton, Halle Bailey playing Ariel, very good choices. Sure Ariel may be played by a dark-skinned person. Still, at least Bailey had a beautiful voice, and you can tell that it’s actually her singing voice. Disney also did excellent with some of the newer elements that they added to this version of The Little Mermaid. It is especially surprising with some of the plot twists that they added to this film. Yes, there is still some predictability with this film. However, you’d be surprised by the amount of plot twists that are found in this film as well. As for the amount of emotion that is involved in this film, even if there may be a tiny bit of raw emotion lacking in this film, there is also a greater amount of that as well. The CGI is also amazing, especially the underwater moments. If you liked the underwater scenes in films like the 1989 animated version of The Little Mermaid, or even in the 2003 Disney/Pixar film, Finding Nemo, chances are you’ll love the underwater scenes in this film too. Oh, and this film will surprisingly have plenty of laughs as well. Finally, the ending will most likely pull at your heartstrings.
But are there any downsides for this remake of the 1989 Disney Animated Classic film? Well, there are at least a couple things. First off, there’s the the elephant in the room, the whole woke deal. Okay, please, hear me out! In regards to say there being a rap song like “The Scuttle Butt” is a horrible thing, or that it’s a crime for Ariel to be played by a black female, that Scuttle is a female bird, and things like those, I’ll take arguments like those with a grain of salt. I mean with “The Scuttle Butt” being a rap song, let’s remember that Lin Manuel Miranda rapped in Disney films like Mary Poppins Returns, Moana, and Hamilton, one one song, or more, for all of those films, for instance. So, why should Little Mermaid be any different in that regard? I mean at that point, you might as well consider the other three films that I mentioned woke. Also, with Halle Bailey, sure, she’s black, but at least she demonstrated that she has a beautiful singing voice. Finally, what’s wrong with Scuttle being a female bird this time around, especially when she was voiced by Awkwafina, of all actresses, and she succeeded in bringing life, and a lot of comedy for this character, you know? That all being said, there is at least one thing that could potentially be woke about this film. What is that, you may wonder? It’s the whole deal about Ariel’s other six sisters being of different nationalities. Yeah. Okay, I don’t mean to sound racist, or anything like that. However, for one of her sisters to be black, one Asian, another Caucasian, I’m not sure that was the best move. Yes, I know this is just a movie. But come on, unless King Triton were to have multiple wives, or something like that, they should have all stuck close to one race, for the most part, you know? But hey, if you want to have a discussion about that, feel free to do so, if it’s CIVIL. Putting that potential woke real aside, there is one other way in which this film could have been better. That being that they could have elaborated more on why Ursula was exiled, and why she went from being a mermaid to being a creature that was half human, and half octopus.
And that’s my review for 2023 remake of The Little Mermaid. Although, this was a good film, Disney needs to be careful about not having any political agendas in their films, and starting to go back to coming out with more original live-action films like in better days. Still, because this film was very well done, definitely go see this film. You’ll have fun with it, get some laughs out of it, will enjoy some heartfelt moments, and more. Honestly, if you like the 1989 animated version of this film, chances are you’ll likely enjoy this new live-action one just as much, maybe even more so. So again, go see this new Little Mermaid, and see what you think!
Final Grade: A-
P.S. I have seen this movie twice already, which, nowadays, I don’t see as many movies multiple all too often. So there you have it!
Matthew’s Animated & Live-Action Movie Reviews 