#little mermaid film review

[maclanahan--mermaid-comics]

My review for the live action little mermaid

[shadyb00ts]

The Little Mermaid (2023) - Review

As a longtime fan of Chloe x Halle, I knew from the moment that Halle Bailey was cast as Ariel that she was the perfect choice. Of course the racists were (and still are) whining and throwing tantrums about Ariel being black, because they never believe any person of color can truly earn a role with sheer talent, but for a long time I was sure that even if this movie ended up being an absolute dumpster fire, Halle would be the saving grace of that dumpster fire. She would be the best part, hands down.

Well, I wasn't surprised to see that I was right. About her being the best part, at least, but I don't think the movie itself is a dumpster fire at all. I actually really enjoyed it, and I've been very cynical of the Disney live action remakes for a long time like most people are. I had no confidence in this film but I had the utmost confidence in Halle to shine no matter what. However, there were things about this movie that pleasantly surprised me. Some disappointments though, I'll admit.

This is gonna be a long review, as my reviews always are. Spoilers ahead. I'd recommend you read this if you've seen the movie, but if you haven't and don't care about spoilers, read on.

So for starters, I was never really a Little Mermaid stan. Of course I loved the movie as a kid because I was obsessed with mermaids in general, and the songs were undisputed classics, but I wasn't exactly a fan of the movie as I grew older. I don't dislike it, it's just... fine. It's very of its time. So because of that, I knew they were going to update and expand certain things in the remake. For better or worse.

I've already stated how much I thought Halle nailed this film. Maybe you could say that I'm biased since I was already a fan of hers anyway, but hey, this is just my honest opinion. She captured Ariel's essence so beautifully; her innocence and naivete, her curiosity and inquisitiveness, her yearning and wonder. And while yes, the CGI during the underwater scenes could be a little janky some of the time, I was mostly mesmerized by the way she moved, the way her hair moved and the iridescence of her tail. She just looked so gorgeous and adorable and got Ariel down to a science.

As for when she gets legs and goes to the surface, that's where she shines even more, because she has to act without saying a word. It was all in her expressions and mannerisms and I thought she absolutely delivered. I haven't mentioned the new songs they added yet, but they did add a new Ariel song for when she goes to the surface called "For the First Time" and I have to say that it's my favorite new addition. It's soooo delightfully musical theater and I think it has the most Little Mermaid-esque vibe to it. It fit the movie perfectly.

Back to the actors, I also thought Melissa McCarthy was the biggest surprise. I had zero confidence that she would do the role justice, but I thought she actually did a great job. She was definitely channeling Pat Carroll and some of her lines elicited chuckles out of me. And I thought her rendition of Poor Unfortunate Souls was pretty good, even though it's unfortunately missing the iconic "body language" lyric. She's not a strong vocalist but I think she did the best she could, and she was one of the highlights. Also she did the Ursula Shoulder Shimmy which I appreciated.

Jonah Hauer King as Prince Eric also did a good job I think. The remake added much-needed depth and character to Eric that was missing in the original. Another thing I appreciated was how they tried to show more parallels between Eric and Ariel. There's a scene in the movie where Ariel finds Eric's library/study, and it's shot in a way that makes it reminiscent to Ariel's grotto. They tried to give the two more things in common, and I think they succeeded in that. Plus the chemistry between Jonah and Halle was just off the charts. I rarely find straight couples adorable, but I thought they were so adorable any time they were sharing a scene.

My one minor gripe with his casting is that he's not exactly the strongest vocalist. One of the new musical numbers is an Eric song called Wild Uncharted Waters, and.... I didn't really like it. His voice kind of sounded like the lead singer of an angsty rock band from the 2000s. As soon as it started it gave me war flashbacks to Emma Watson in Beauty and the Beast, where they had to use very noticeable autotune on her voice. Granted that was much, MUCH worse, but still. I don't wanna be reminded of that travesty. The song itself is okay I think, but it could be much better if they had a stronger vocalist or a Broadway darling to play the role, to really do the song justice. But like I said, this is just a minor gripe because Eric really only gets one song, and Jonah overall did a good job.

A change that I really appreciated was, instead of Ariel getting invited to dinner at the castle, she and Eric go to a market instead. The kingdom in the remake is inspired by the Caribbean and I loved the tropical, colorful vibe of the locale. The market visit allowed Ariel to wander around and marvel at everything she doesn't understand, and it's a much cuter, more laid back way for her and Eric to spend time together. Some people were upset about the crazy chef who tries to kill Sebastian being removed, but honestly, I never thought that sequence added anything to the original. I loved what they did here.

Daveed Diggs as Sebastian... Sigh. Look, I love Daveed but I feel like he was so miscast for this. Anytime he spoke or sang, you could tell the Jamaican accent was very put on. Sure, the original actor who voiced Sebastian--Samuel E. Wright, RIP--also was putting on a Jamaican accent, but somehow it just felt more natural when he did it. His voice work as Sebastian was so iconic, and Daveed just missed the mark on this role. It just wasn't the right role for him. His version of Under the Sea was also quite underwhelming, and he did a lot of talk-singing during it. I liked the Under the Sea sequence visually, but not quite sonically.

As for Kiss the Girl, people were making such an uproar about the lyric changes but the changes were so minor. They literally only changed like, a couple of lines, and the song is still the same thematically. It's still just the animal sidekicks trying to influence Eric to kiss the girl in kiiind of a date-r*pey-ish way. They wanted to make it seem more consensual, but nothing's really changed. But yeah, I do think the original version of the song is still better regardless. Similar issue I felt about Under the Sea, it just... doesn't quite hit the mark.

Awkwafina as Scuttle was... alright. She had some funny moments, but I mean, she's just doing her regular voice. It's literally just Awkwafina as a bird. But what I really hated was.. Scuttlebutt.

Oh god, Scuttlebutt. I honestly have no idea what Lin Manuel Miranda was thinking when he wrote this? I don't know if he was smoking something really strong, cause like... Mama, this is garbage. Like, I can't even explain to you how painful to hear this song was. It's absolutely the worst and most unnecessary addition to the soundtrack. Nobody wants to hear Awkwafina, the queen of putting on blaccents, rapping. That's the last thing any of us wanna hear. It was just. So. Horrible. I've seen the movie twice in theaters now and each time I was just begging for that song to be over.

Anyway, that's the most negative thing I can say about this movie, was that damn song. Lin deserved jailtime for that one.

For the more minor characters, Javier Bardem as Triton was okay. Some people think he was horrible but I don't think he was that bad, it was fine. I still would've preferred Idris Elba as Triton but that's just my personal fancast.

Flounder was... Flounder. Yeah, I don't like his hyper-realistic design, but he was still pretty cute and 12-year-old Jacob Tremblay was just trying his best to emulate the original actor and I think he did a fine job.

Ariel's sisters were barely in it, like in the original. They did give them each unique, cute designs, but we all know that it's just to sell dolls. They appear in the beginning of the movie in a pretty awkward scene that's supposed to replace the concert from the original film. Apparently Triton and his daughters meet every time there's something called the Coral Moon? It seems to just be a family meeting of some sort. They left it so vague, they didn't even bother to explain what the Coral Moon was. I wish they had just kept the concert.

But yeah, the sisters are all named and apparently I heard each of them are supposed to have special powers? Well those powers weren't showcased in the movie at all, so we know it was just a marketing tactic. I'm sure there'll be tons of fanfics of all the sisters having adventures and whatnot. They might even make an animated series. It'd be called Ariel and Her Sisters, or Daughters of Triton.

I do think the dolls are very slay though. I'd buy the whole 7 pack.

Oh my god, I forgot to talk about Vanessa. Girl... Jessica Alexander bodied this role. Even though she was only in it for a handful of minutes, she ate up every bit of those minutes. I also really liked Vanessa's Trick from the soundtrack and thought it sounded beautiful. Do I wish it still had lyrics instead of "la-di-da's"? Sure I guess, but I honestly don't mind all that much. It's very haunting and Halle's voice is ethereal on it.

I think that's all I have to say on the movie. It's a fun time and it's bolstered by some stellar performances (particularly from Halle) and welcome changes/additions. But it's also kinda bogged down by not-always-great CGI, some clunky musical choices, and certain things cut from the original film that I thought shouldn't have been cut.

Still, I very much enjoyed this movie more than any of the other Disney remakes so far. I do agree with people's sentiments of it being the best of the bunch, but well... the bar isn't exactly high in that regard. Maybe because the previous remakes were so bad, this one just is the best because it's the only one that doesn't suck.

Whatever the case, I had enough of a great time that I went and saw it twice. I recommend you see it too before it leaves theaters.

[fayevalcntine]

Putting this on a separate note but the amount of discourse The Little Mermaid (2023) has gotten so far is ridiculous to me. I don't consider it an improvement or a replacement to the original (mainly because the original is WHY this movie exists, and I don't think the intent is to replace it either), but it's a solid enough film in the vein of Roger and Hammerstein's Cinderella where I could definitely see kids and teenagers (even young adults) like it enough to revisit it. It's not a cinematic masterpiece, but why anyone expects that from Disney of all things, I'll never know.

But the obsessive amount of hate it's gotten from bizarro "anti-woke" youtubers is ridiculous, mostly because of the casting and now they're trying to use "Across The Spiderverse" as their way of 'fighting back' against Disney's "woke agenda" as if they aren't foaming in the mouth over Miles Morales being called Spider-man. Just an all-round insane sort of response to a film that for all it's supposedly big changes, is harmless overall.

[c-rose2081]

Alrighty, went and saw The Little Mermaid.

It was nice to have a theater with NO kids in it, as everyone is seeing Spiderverse so I could enjoy in peace.

Let me tell you. I went into this movie with ground level expectations. In the DUST. And I was pleasantly surprised. It was so enjoyable to watch start to finish, and there were plenty of moments that made me smile or frown.

The marketing of this movie did not do it justice. There were some incredible sequences, textures and CGI work here on background creation and cinematography (that final battle? PHEW I was tense). It’s a colorful film, not dark like I was expecting (though color correction in some areas is still needed)

Halle absolutely shined as Ariel, and I loved the supporting cast (yes, photo realism and all). Ariel and Eric’s dynamic in this movie was ADORABLE and I could actually imagine them falling in love quite quickly. Ariel is shown straight out the gate as curious and fearless, and Halle brings a wonderful, innocent beauty to her that captured my heart at once. Melissa (say what you’d like of her) did wonderful as Ursula — though I am sad that we didn’t get any actual drag queen rep), but you can’t expect to much from Disney in that regard.

NOW. I still stand by what I said before. The CGI movements in this movie are really…off. The tails are beautiful and look great in some shots, but just plain wonky in the next. Hair physics on Ariel looks ok, but on Triton and the daughters? YIKES. I would’ve liked to get more time with Ariel interacting with her siblings, as she does in the original movie/sequels, but I assume that may be open for the future.

Wasn’t impressed with Triton himself. I had a really rough time understanding his accent, seeing as he spoke low and had some echo in his voice which garbled up his lines. He also just wasn’t very likable which makes sense but his sudden change of heart still doesn’t make much sense to me (I think that’s just a story problem).

There were also some song sequences that I wasn’t impressed with, Under the Sea unfortunately being one of them. Obviously it’s hard to capture the atmosphere of the song without the use of traditional animation, but mixing a bunch of random animals all looking much too real together? It was disjointed and somehow still felt so empty. The prince’s song was ok but heavily auto tuned and boring visually. And do I have to say much about…eh, Scuttlebutt? Like I know you have Awkwafina but WHY? It was the worst part of the film in my opinion.

Part of Your World was great, as was Poor Unfortunate Souls and I LOVE Ariel’s song upon first arriving in the kingdom. Kiss the Girl was the same, even with slightly adjusted lyrics which are barely noticeable.

Summary: If you go into the movie looking for something to not like? You’ll find it. There are plenty of things wrong or in need of tweaking in this film. It absolutely isn’t perfect. But if you go into it with intent to enjoy, you will. There is nothing outright horrible about this adaptation. It follows the original CLOSELY, and once you get used to the odd cgi you lose sight of it. Most who really complain (oh, this movie is worse than the lion king blah blah blah) are either racist regarding Halle, or are people who lack the capacity for wonder and have the inability to look past flaws to enjoy an experience.

—

Rating:

Enjoyment: 10/10

Quality: 6.5/10

Music: 7/10

[marinerainbow]

I don't usually make posts like this, but I said I would. So Herr are my thoughts on

The Live Action Little Mermaid

First and foremost: HALLE BAILEY IS AN AMAZING ARIEL!!!!

I never had my doubts about her from what I saw in the trailer. But HOLY HELL she brought the animated mermaid to LIFE with how she played her! Her voice, her expressions, her acting! It all flowed together and I could see Ariel, not someone playing as Ariel. The same goes to the rest of the actors!

And Ariel took more initiative in this film too! She did do a little of that in the original (actively breaking the rules to pursue her passion, taking a leap of faith to try to join the land and have her love, etc) but she seems more involved in the live action film. And not in a way that tries to hammer in the 'girl power' message either (children should have good role models. But when the feminist message starts to take away from the story and becomes that characters' entire personality, that's a bit too much). Ariel here was crafty and wanted to unite the two worlds, but remained her old bubbly and curious self!

Not to mention, Eric! First of all, I loved his performance in the film just as much as Ariel. And they made him more likable too! Like Ariel in the original, Eric was a bit more developed than other prince's in the original film (talking about how he'd not going to go through an arranged marriage, having fun with his love interest instead of just saving her, etc). Though, he was still a kinda bland character. In the live action though, Eric is not just Ariels prince. He feels like he's actually her second half. And the decision to make their goals and backgrounds similar also sheds a new light on Eric and Ariels relationship that the original didn't quite have.

And of course, I can't forget Ursula. I'll admit, I had a slight doubt when I heard they were casting Melissa McCarthy as Ursula. Not because I don't like her, I actually love her in her films. But I've never seen Melissa play a fairytale villain, so I wasn't sure how it would go to have a raunchy comedy actress starring as the sea witch. But BOY HOWDY, Melissa quickly dashed my those fears away. She brought her own spin to the character while also being the sassy, intimidating, deal maker we all know and love! And not to mention her singing voice. Holy. Shit. Melissa, you gotta play more characters like Ursula.

And the same applies to all the other characters! From Ariels friends and her family, all the actors and actresses' brought a whole new life to the characters they were casted as! Including the new ones, such as Eric's mother! Honestly, that's pretty much how this whole movie felt. It felt like I was watching a fairy tale brought to life once again, and not an exact repeat of the original nor a butchered version. They kept a lot of the original script and songs, while also adding new things. Eric and Scuttle got their own songs, some locations were changed but they felt like they worked with 2023 Little Mermaid, and the decision to make the film take place on the Caribbean Islands was a very interesting choice that they made work!!

And I CAN NOT finish this post without mentioning the CGI, beautiful visuals, and character design! All if the graphics were just... AHHH! I can't even describe it. The cast felt like they actually were under water with the changed gravity, and the stunning way they animated the animals. Speaking of which! Yes, they did change the characters' designs, and some of them are goofy, such as Flounder. But they are just as cute too!! And they gave the animals E X P R E S S I O N S!!! This isn't a repeat of the live action Lion King. Through body language, eye movement, and voice, these character genuinely feel like they are living!!! My personal favorite thing about the CGI is that they still gave Sebastian the realistic crab eyes, but animated them so you can still see where he's looking and what he's feeling!!

I found only ONE fatal flaw, though... They did not have Sebastians arch nemesis, the Chef (I'm just kidding. I'm a bit disappointed the Chef wasn't in here, but that's a personal thing and not like a 'the movie is ruined' thing)

Conclusion? Go see The Little Mermaid. Please. You WILL NOT REGRET IT.

In all seriousness, I was a little disappointed when there weren't as many vocals/back up singers in the songs 'Under the Sea' or 'Kiss the Girl', but that's not at all a bad thing. That's just my nostalgia being nit-picky XD and they did make those songs work! It was awesome to hear Ariel and Sebastian sing together, and her friends ACTUALLY working together instead of Sebastian carrying the majority of this operation on his shell.

[thejewofkansas]

The Weekly Gravy #141

I’ll start the week off by watching some more shorts by the recently deceased Kenneth Anger: Rabbit’s Moon (1979) – A few years after the first version was released, Anger re-edited Rabbit’s Moon, speeding up the frame rate, changing the soundtrack from classic doo-wop to a 70s rock song called “Things That Go Bump in the Night,” changing the stylized zoom of the Moon to what appears to be stock…

[mariellewritesalot]

Red hair. Sense of adventure. The headstrong urge to move away from home. The romantic girlie determination. The name that rolls off your tongue with the L sound at the end...the only difference is @hallebailey will give you goosebumps when you hear her sing Part of Your World, while staying at home with me for the past few days after seeing this film will annoy you into getting the song stuck in your head because I've been singing it randomly (and badly).  Prince Eric (@jonahhauerking) is also SO gorgeous, you can't miss watching him all shy in Kiss the Girl.  

Mar in Spanish means "sea" by the way. Probably one of the most fun I've had on assignment as a Contributor for @philstarlife.

[fishygeek]

Something I've noticed over time, but forget to mention...

on one hand its a joke, on the other hand.... I think there might be some truth to it

So Ariel is ginger, yeah? Keep that in mind

I don't think her name was particularly common before the film came out. But the only usage of the name Ariel I can think of is in Shakespeare's The Tempest. In that play, there is an air spirit named Ariel. And what does the little mermaid at the end of the fairytale turn into? A FUCKIN DAUGHTER OF THE AIR

Back to Ariel's hair, mermaids in the original fairytale do not have souls...

Of course they made her ginger 😨

(they were going to make her blonde, but of course they changed that since she would be compared to Madison from Splash, but hey, the ginger route was a bit more symbolically creative I guess 😂)

[amwilburn]

The Little Mermaid (2023)

An almost note for note remake of the original animated classic, in a slightly revised order, but unnecessarily padded in spots. Unfortunately, Lin Manuel Miranda's song writing skills are nowhere near Alan Menkein's (to be fair, neither are mine, and I'm also a musician) which makes the extra song padding very uneven with Menkein's brilliant work.

This movie is (mostly) gorgeous, especially the photo realistic, colorful underwater scenes. There is a painfully cheap scene where you can see an actor is talking to inanimate puppets, which is mercifully brief, but took me out of the film for a minute.

Halle Baily can act (thankfully), and boy can she sing, but Daveed Digs (Sebastian), Jonah Hauer-King (Prince Eric), Jessica Alexander and especially Melissa McCarthy & (both Ursula) steal the show.

I'm also extremely confused by mermaid genetics... are King Triton's genes so weak that all his daughters are simply clones of their mothers? And ot turns out going for realistic sea creatures, it's hard to make them cute: Sebastian should've stayed a hemit crab (he looks like a large red spider here) & flounder just looks like a yellow fish.

Otherwise mostly satisfying, if a little bloated (135 minutes versus the originals 83). About average as far as these live action remakes go. But the visuals are definitely meant for the big screen; I hope I get a chance to watch this in 3d eventually (they seem to have stopped playing 3d films on Disney cruises, unfortunately)

7.6/10, B

[tinseltine]

I realized this is JLaw‘s first official comedy – “Silver Linings Playbook” and “Joy” are each a dramedy. “Don’t Look Up” is funny, but its genre would be cautionary/Scifi. Lawrence was the comic relief in “American Hustle”, but again, a satire, not a broad comedy.  I’m glad she finally found herself here. 

The Blackening’s got the feel of Bodies Bodies Bodies, just not as clever.  You can see the twist ending coming from a mile away. But as someone whose black card is always in threat of being revoked, due to having grown up on a constant diet of corny, white fare; I liked the irony of a board game of actual black cards, where each character has to answer culturally black trivia in order to stay alive!  And yup, if I were playing, my black card would once again have been in jeopardy, cause for a number of the questions, I’d have been about as much help as I’d be in an escape room requiring math. 

Overall I enjoyed the film and thought this fresh take on the Flashpoint event was creative. Just not as creative as the 2013 film, which still had meta-humans and heroes, with each of them in different roles than what they are in the traditional DC’s Earth-Prime version. For instance, Bruce Wayne was killed in the alley that famous night instead of his parents; turning his father into Batman and his mother into the Joker. Superman is captured and nowhere to be found. Cyborg is a resistance leader, giving America a fighting chance within a war between Aquaman’s Atlanteans and Wonder Woman’s Amazonians. Aquaman cheated on his wife Mera with Diana and it led to this major war.

Vibrant all the way around, story, visuals, characters! Although, I’ll admit, I got a little sleepy a few moments before we meet the super cool Spider-man named Hobie Brown, aka Spider-Punk voiced by Daniel Kaluuya, but that could have been due to the heaping portion of Chinese food I ate at the beginning of the movie. This Spider-Punk was my favorite spidey. Kauuya says he: put a lot of emphasis on what matters to the fans when it came to finding his superhero’s voice, so much so that when he first took on the role of Spider-Punk he listened to fan-made playlists dedicated to the character to understand how they saw him rather than choose to base him on any punk rock icons of the past.

Me and my sister came out of Disney’s Live Action The Little Mermaid smiling from ear to ear feeling as though it managed to capture and hold true to everything we loved about the animated original and at the same time, embracing the world of today with beautiful diversity. But then I read The New York Times review by Wesley Morris and he just makes me feel stupid for enjoying the movie. I suppose he has some salient points like “This new flesh-and-blood version is about a girl who’d like to withdraw her color from the family rainbow and sail off into “uncharted waters” with her white prince.” Also, although I loved Halle Bailey’s interpretation of Ariel, his review now makes me question, does she imbue varied enough facial expressions while mute?

The Mother explores themes of family, redemption and identity, as Lopez’s character (with no name) struggles to reconcile her past and present. It’s not a groundbreaking or original movie by any means. It borrows heavily from other action movies like “Taken”, “Salt” and “Atomic Blonde”. The plot is predictable, the villains are one-dimensional and the moments of warmth aren’t very moving. But it’s entertaining, and it’s JLo, so stream it!

I definitely feel GOTG3 has stronger beats than Ant-man Quantumania, but it’s still a little long and lacking a certain spark had by the prior 2 movies of this MCU franchise. I think we need to go back to keeping the films just under 2 hours. Infinity War and End Game each needed to be nearly 3 hours because of so many characters and major story arcs, but with these sequels, no matter how beloved the characters, there’s not enough to fill them. I love superhero movies and particularly the MCU, but lately I can always feel the point in which they should be wrapping up, yet there’s 40-45 minutes still to go. 

THIS WAS TINSEL & TINE'S #MINIMOVIEREVIEW EXTRAVAGANZA #14 for complete content - https://tinseltine.com/minimoviereviewextravaganza14/

[pop-pop-pop-popculture]

‘The Little Mermaid’ Review

The title was unamusing. I like what’s on the poster, and I don’t understand why it wasn’t in the film.

The acting felt dull from some people throughout the film, especially when it comes to tone in voice and facial expressions.

Daveed’s Jamaican accent wasn’t as dramatic and deep as Samuel’s, but I could still tolerate it.

Halle nailed “Part of Your World”, and one thing I loved alongside her singing was the emotion and, in some parts, her facial expression, especially towards the end where Ariel was getting more upset that she couldn’t bring her dreams to life. Way to go, Halle!

I love how we heard Ariel’s thoughts in “For The First Time” and then she realized she couldn’t speak after Prince Eric asked her what her name was.

Physical appearance-wise, I still wish a 20 year-old with blue eyes (and pale skin) was casted as Eric, but Jonah was good.

Speaking of him, why did most everyone have a British accent?

I was unimpressed with “Under the Sea” vocally and visually. It was more extra and vibrant in the animated film, and in this film it just felt meh to me. However, I did like how Ariel joined in towards the end.

I enjoyed Melissa’s portrayal of Ursula. 

“Poor Unfortunate Souls” gets a 7/10 from me.

In the live-action version, Ursula made Ariel forget that she had to make Eric fall in love with (and then kiss) her within three days, which I really, really liked. And so, because of that, Ariel and Eric’s likeness for each other was authentic and not rushed. They were (and are) so cute together!

Once Eric realized he had something in common with Ariel, that was when a bond began to form as well as feelings. No romance yet, in my opinion.

I love how Eric was still worried about Ariel even while under Ursula’s spell during the day he was supposed to announce his engagement.

The scene where Ariel and Eric are in his study room and they’re going over a map together.

Jessica [Alexander] as Vanessa. Oh my God... . That maniacal laugh...! She was barely in the film (obviously), but I loved every second.

Ariel helping Max into the boat after the shipwreck.

“The Scuttlebutt” was not terrible or good, but actually kind of fun and ...cute. A little cringe and dumb too, lol, but it’s not as bad as people say or think it is. Keep in mind, however, that the target audience for this film IS children, so props to my man for knowing his target audience.

Eric collected things from under water to put in his study room whereas Ariel collected things that fell from above water to put in her underwater tunnel...room...thing. They’re nerds, and I love it.

“Les Poissons” was not in the film, and I was low-key looking forward to that scene! So, I’m going to debunk an ongoing rumor right now: Lin-Manuel Miranda is NOT Chef Louis, because the chef wasn’t even in the movie.

Speaking of Miranda, I’m honestly surprised he didn’t make a cameo. I bet that was hard for him to resist since this is his favorite Disney film, but, with all due respect, I’m happy he resisted (if the temptation was even there).

Grimsby kicking the ring away because he ships Eric and Ariel. And I can’t can’t stan him for that.

Ariel telling Eric what her name is through the constellations. Brilliant idea! And then him saying it was ‘written in the stars’.

The CGI wasn’t that bad...

I don’t know why, but I didn’t think the scene where Ursula becomes ginormous and comes out of the water prior to getting a hold of King Triton’s triton was going to make it in the film, but it did, and I was impressed with the scene. I only say that because another villain who had a dramatic change towards the end was Jafar, who turned into a ginormous cobra before his battle with Aladdin. Well, that didn’t happen in the live-action film, and it was the only scene I was looking forward to!

Lack of emotion in tone from most everyone (except Jessica who portrayed Vanessa).

Ursula had some comedic lines, but it was genuine than forced. Melissa did not disappoint.

I wish “Daughters of Triton” was in the film :( ‘And presenting the distinguished court composer, Horatio Thelonious Ignacious Crustaceous Sebastian!’ [off-key kazoo plays while he comes out, and nobody is clapping or cheering 😂]

King Triton telling Ariel “You shouldn’t have had to given up for your voice for me to hear you.” That was so sweet! However, she was trying to talk to him about this more than once beforehand, but he kept getting mad and interrupting her...

*IMDb shows “You shouldn’t have to give up your voice to be heard.”, so maybe that was it. Sorry!*

I didn’t like that Flounder and Scuttle joined in on “Kiss the Girl”. Also, a lot of sea creatures joined sang with Sebastian in the animated film (after all, he is a music composer), but in the live-action version, it was only Sebastian, Scuttle and Flounder.

Compared to the animated film, visually, I was unimpressed with “Kiss the Girl”.

Jodi Benson made a cameo!!!!

The last scene post-Ursula’s defeat didn’t make me cry out loud, but I was definitely crying on the inside. It was so sweet!

Overall, I give the film a 8/10 despite the bland acting and lack of facial expressions and tone in voice from most everyone (except Jessica and, to an extent, Melissa). However, if you do not take the original, animated film into consideration and do not compare it to the live-action, then I give this a 10/10.

• June 4, 2023 •

[alightinthelantern]

film reviews: The Little Mermaid (2023)

Not a good film, and I didn’t finish it. In general I’ve stayed away from Disney’s live-action cash-grabs, but I was drained after watching Apocalypse Now and wanted an easy movie to watch, and I was curious how the new film would compare with the original, which I loved when I was younger.

The visuals were beautiful, everything else was mediocre. This was a badly directed film. All of the actors’ mannerisms and vocal patterns were slightly off-number and fake-feeling, stagey, and the actor playing Sebastian was particularly awful, he felt like he was either under rehearsed or particularly unenthused for his role. Awkwafina as Scuttle was the only actor whose cadences felt naturalistic. Halle Bailey as Ariel was decent, neither bad nor great, but lacked that special something that Ariel’s original voice actress had in the animated film, and she wasn’t able to properly sell Ariel’s longing and curiosity. I blame her youth as an actress and bad direction, I think she could’ve been better than she was if she were more mature and had better direction. Her acting was by-the-book and lacked charisma.

The film was too similar to the original, following all the familiar beats, and only differed in poor choices that decreased the story’s quality. If this film had been a labor of love instead of a cash-grab, and in the hands of a more talented and inspired director, it could’ve been much better, but I don’t dwell on ifs.

The songs in the movie have a pared-back instrumentation and lack the sweeping strings of the originals, which makes them duller and less memorable. The instrumental score for the film was completely rewritten, which was a very poor choice. The original soundtrack for the film was dramatic and heartfelt, and had a very musical quality, creating an entire musical soundscape which made the vocal numbers fit in; the soundscape in the new movie is completely overlooked and the new music is cinematic (think Hans Zimmer) and particularly dull and uninspired, so that the beloved songs feel out of place in the movie, which is a filmic sin. The fact that Alan Menken, composer of the original soundtrack, did the soundtrack for this film is so hard to believe that I think he either did poorly on purpose or was forced into a box by the director. The film boasts several new songs written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, which was another horrible choice, as the style of the new songs is completely incongruous with the original songs and the poor quality of them is unbearable.

Overall, the film was no better or worse than I expected. As I said, I did not finish it, and I definitely don’t recommend it.

[watcher0033]

I love The Little Mermaid so much. 😭😭😭

Plot - 9/10

-Love Ariel’s coming of age, journey-ing to be a human arc. Her transition from non-human to human was treated w respect without dissing her origins. Which was consistent with the original classic as well. Love the mermaid tears arc. Love the father-daughter bond. The romance was fucking impeccable.

Pacing - 9/10

-very straight to the point, fleshed out world with just the right amount of tasteful exposition.

Characters - 9/10

-Ariel and Eric were perfection I won’t stand for slander. Anyone who’s saying Ariel transitioned for a man should be given the right smack. Did y’all not see her consistent pining was about the human world, wanting to be human and her thirst to know more and explore it all?! Her love for Eric was a separate thing thats only theirs!! She takes what she wants while acknowledging the consequences! She took a stand and fought not just because Eric was in danger but for her dad!!

Eric is the best Disney Prince. I have earned Wisdom. Live action Eric gave me best hindsight that Eric’s personality was already there in the original film. Just fleshed out now match Ariel. Those soulful eyes, that soulful heart that may make him look like a flighty royal to outsiders but it’s a consistent fact that besides his thirst for knowledge is a steady heart that wants to do his best for his country. Love that guy.

Triton. My god I think I’d gladly drown in Triton’s voice ngl. I was like can it get any lower?! Them: Yes. But fr love his arc of putting aside his prejudices for his daughter’s happiness in the end. Like that’s a bare minimum some fathers just can’t even manage to reach sometimes.

*insert fun fact here of consistently calling him daddy instead of his name NOT FOR REASONS YOU THINK (or maybe it is who knows) but because I keep mispronouncing Triton and trident. I know, i know 😭

Ursula. That overly dramatic witch. So camp. Love that for her. I have trouble listening to Melissa’s enunciation sometimes but it’s cool. She’s a functional antagonist.

The sentient animal friend: their good. Best wing(heh)men u could ever ask more. Sebastian’s journey from Yes man to “Hm. Actually.” was pretty good as before.

The romance and character parallels of Ariel and Eric happened because of Max. Everybody say thank you to Max. He’s a good boi. 🐶

Casting - 10/10

Great job as far as I can tell.

Cinematography - 9/10

-i have to squint sometimes but the visuals are pretty effing stunning.

Scoring - 7.5/10

-can never beat the classics, but I love the range of emotions the characters put into it. And the new songs SLAP. But minus points for the Scuttlebutt song that was so bad, sorry I can’t even call it Mid. That song was the official bathroom break for me.

Overall: 8.5/10 for me. It was satisfying!

[miscellaneousjay]

Now that I’ve seen “The Little Mermaid” (2023) in its entirety, I can say that special care was taken with the animation and the depth of the main characters. The scenery from the brightness of the ocean to the colorful hustle and bustle of the oceanside town to the openness of the castle to the environmentalism! It was all so wonderful I felt like I could just fall into the film (even though I didn’t watch it in 3D)! Yes, even Daveed Diggs’ Sebastian wasn’t too hard on the ears (refer to previous post; I still would’ve preferred a Black Carribean for the role) and his renditions of “Under The Sea” and “Kiss The Girl” are okay. He’s not Samuel E. Wright or Shaggy, but I can make do with the effort (not that I have a choice because that is who Disney chose). Well done to the TLM2023 cast and crew!👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾