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Posted in: Disney, Kaitlyn Booth, Movies | Tagged: disney, live-action remake, Review, the little mermaid
The Little Mermaid Review: Lacks The Courage To Do Its Own Thing
The Little Mermaid doesn't have the confidence to be much more than yet another shot-for-shot Disney remake, but when it tries to do its own thing, you can see the good movie that could have been.
The Little Mermaid doesn't have the confidence to be much more than yet another shot-for-shot Disney remake, but when it tries to do its own thing, you can see the good movie that could have been.
Director: Rob Marshall
Summary: The youngest of King Triton's daughters, and the most defiant, Ariel, longs to discover more about the world beyond the sea and, while visiting the surface, falls for the dashing Prince Eric. While mermaids are forbidden to interact with humans, Ariel must follow her heart. She makes a deal with the evil sea witch, Ursula, which gives her a chance to experience life on land, but ultimately places her life – and her father's crown – in jeopardy.
It's not surprising that Disney is forging right ahead with its decision to do more and more remakes of its animated movies. The ones that have hit at the box office have hit extremely hard, so it makes sense. However, what these remakes haven't done is do much different from the original. A remake doesn't have to do a shot-for-shot copy; it can be something very different, which is particularly true for movies like The Little Mermaid, based on source material that isn't the film. However, Disney doesn't seem too keen to explore radical reimaginings of their movies when it comes to marquee remakes. They are far from lacking in artistic integrity, and there is likely a real desire to make these films for a "new" generation. However, something about them always feels like they are afraid that they will piss the most radical Disney fans off and provide explanations to pedantic plot holes [looking at you 'Belle has Stockholm syndrome think pieces].
The Little Mermaid does try to do its own thing, and while the new songs aren't anything to write home about, it takes stones to add new songs to what is considered a perfect soundtrack. There is also more to the relationship between Ariel and Eric. You get the impression that they might actually like each other before they love each other, which is a nice dynamic to see on screen, and the moments where you see that friendship are some of the better in the film. Those are the moments when The Little Mermaid shines because it is daring to step out of line and do its own thing. It's willing to give Eric an actual backstory and personality. Still, even these moments feel like they are answers to criticisms that have been leveled at the animated original by gen-x and millennials who grew up and decided being snarky on the internet was the way to go.
You really move into the uncanny valley when the film does shot-for-shot moments. If you haven't ever seen the original, these moments likely won't matter at all. Still, to those familiar with and invested in the original, it feels like a photocopy of a photocopy with some wonky-looking animals. There has to be a happy medium in these live-action remakes where we can have some artistic license with the animal characters because photo-realism is just not doing it. A fish can't emote like an animated fish can, and if you have to animate it, to begin with, why not make it look a little less realistic and give Flounder the ability to emote the way he's supposed to? We are dealing with merpeople, creatures that don't exist; if there was ever a Disney movie where they could take artistic liberties with how sea creatures look, it's this one, and the fact that they didn't is baffling.
The insistance on being realistic to the film's detriment also comes down to the lighting. This ocean isn't bright because it's the ocean; the deeper you go, the darker you get. The Little Mermaid embraces realism to a fault, and there are some scenes, specifically with Triton, that are so underlit it can be hard to see what exactly is going on. The design of Ursula is great, and if you were really looking forward to seeing what her huge version for the big finale would look like, well, the scene takes place at night and during a storm. When everything gets brighter, you can see that Rob Marshall created some legitimately great set design, but the moments when things are underlit seem to come at the worst possible time.
All of this is a shame because Halle Bailey and Melissa McCarthy are both fantastic in this. Bailey has the voice of an angel, and if you have any attachment to The Little Mermaid, you get a little choked up when you hear her hit those belts. She earns every fan tear that will be shed and does an excellent job of acting without a voice in the film's second half. She has this big, expressive face and these gorgeous eyes, and you are instantly charmed by her even when she is silent. As for McCarthy, the only Disney fans that might be more passionate than princess fans are villain fans, so she had an uphill battle to climb. However, she does a good job, and her rendition of Poor Unfortunate Souls is instantly iconic.
All of this makes it sound like The Little Mermaid is bad, but it isn't. In terms of Disney remakes, we have seen a lot worse, and this is absolutely one of the better ones. The trailers undersell the special effects, and when things are bright under the sea, it's lovely, and Marshall does an excellent job of making the island feel like a real place with a real culture, even if it sidesteps where this is. When you have these outstanding performances from Bailey and McCarthy, you have to wonder what this movie could have been if it had the confidence to really escape the clutches of a shot-for-shot remake.
The film opens with a quote from Hans Christian Andersen, but no one involved seems keen to truly explore Anderson's story beyond the lines that Disney created in 1989. Bailey's casting is an important step forward in representation, and it cannot be understated how important it is for little girls of color to see themselves on screen, even more so now when it must feel like most of the world is against them. The happiness in their eyes when they see her on screen and when they meet this version of Ariel in the parks is worth something far more important than any quantitative criticism or review of this film. All of that being said, The Little Mermaid had potential, but it didn't have the courage to truly do something different, and that really is a shame.
The Little Mermaid
6.5/10
The Little Mermaid doesn't have the confidence to be much more than yet another shot-for-shot Disney remake, but when it tries to do its own thing, you can see the good movie that could have been.
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