The Little Mermaid
Although it does not possess the same campy nature as its animated predecessor, The Little Mermaid maintains the emotion of the beloved story through a star-creating performance and emphasis on relationships.
The recent Disney live-action films focus on recreating beat-by-beat the iconic imagery of the animated films. Sadly a lot of them fall lackluster due to the inability to capture the vibrancy and magic of the animated musical numbers. The 1989 version of The Little Mermaid had the glistening golden castle, the iconic sparkly dress Ariel comes out of the ocean in, and some of the most memorable Disney songs of all time. There is a lot for the live-action version to live up to, but a live-action underwater film about mermaids is an exciting idea that has taken many years to be brought to the surface.
The story remains the same following Ariel, a merprincess curious by the human world, who falls in love with a bland prince against her anti-human father’s wishes and makes a deal with the evil sea witch Ursula to trade her voice for legs. Sounds fairly simple, but she has three days to kiss the prince, or else she will be Ursula’s captive. On top of that, something extra was slipped into the spell to make her forget her motives on land.
Without Halle Bailey, this film would not have worked. Bailey’s interpretation of Ariel stems from her curiosity about the human world. She is so charming in this role with a heavenly voice that makes these classic songs her own. Bailey embodies the story’s themes of girlhood and loneliness simply through her eyes as half of the film she is silent. She allows herself to be vulnerable as a leading lady. Her rendition of Part of Your World is raw and chilling as you can feel her longing for something more through the screen. It sets the stage for the rest of the film’s musical numbers who never seem to meet it.
Director Rob Marshall balances a Broadway approach with endless amounts of CGI to bring the world of The Little Mermaid to life. The setup of the musical numbers leaves room for applause from the audience as the songs become the main character. Last year’s Avatar: The Way of Water brought promise to underwater sequences in films, but sadly the water sequences in this film come across as murky and barren. The choice to make the sea creatures real loses the characters' playfulness in the animated version. The voice acting for each of Ariel’s nonhuman friends works, but the character design kills the physicality and humanity of their performances. There is a big emotional absence missing in the sea and it feels like just a location rather than a character itself. There is no allure to keep Ariel below the surface giving her a perfect case for joining the bright human world in this version.
While the sea is drab, this version decides to expand on the universe of The Little Mermaid drawing from Hans Anderesen’s fable to make the story more grounded. Placing the island in the Caribbean through its costume and production design matches Ariel’s curiosity about exploration and learning. There is a whole subplot on the relationship between the people on the island and the sea gods that are not fully fleshed out but fuels the disconnect between the two species.
As well as the new location the story focuses on the relationships between Ariel and her father and Prince Eric and his mother. These little child and parent moments add another layer to make the characters feel more lived in. The moments between Prince Triton and Ariel are really sweet as their relationship develops to a place where they finally understand one another. Not all the new additions work or are memorable, but it drives home the original story’s idea of being misunderstood.
Overall The Little Mermaid is a step up from the recent Disney Live-action films that will be memorable to young audiences.