"The Little Mermaid" stands on its own two feet as a pretty enchanting live-action Disney remake

The Little Mermaid (2023)

Whether or not you have accepted that all of your childhood Disney animated classics will get the live-action treatment eventually, they’re going to keep being . . . part of our world. “The Little Mermaid” is the latest reimagining from the catalogue, and for all the poor, unfortunate souls who were gunning for it with their tridents ready, this wonderfully imagined remake can cohabitate with the beloved 1989 hand-drawn animated original. It’s much more of a labor of love than a soulless, superfluous cash grab. 


If you’re new to land and have lived under the sea all this time, the story follows Ariel, an adventurous teenage mermaid who wants more out of life than her older sisters. Halle Bailey is a lovely, radiant Ariel, emanating warmth and a deep longing to be where all the people are. Always swimming off to explore and collect whozits and whatzits from shipwrecks with her fish friend Flounder, Ariel is tired of being reprimanded by her father, King Triton (Javier Bardem), for going too close to the forbidden surface. Up there, humans are not kind to merpeople, apparently, but Ariel has her own curiosity about humanity. After she becomes smitten with naval explorer Eric (Jonah Hauer-King), also the prince of an island kingdom, and saves him from a stormy shipwreck, Ariel makes a deal with her evil sea-witch aunt Ursula (Melissa McCarthy): she can now stand on two legs. Of course, it comes with a price: her preternatural voice. If she can’t lock down true love’s kiss from Eric before sundown on the third day, the mute Ariel will be beholden to Auntie Ursula forever. You know how this Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale goes.


“The Little Mermaid” is an impressive undertaking by director Rob Marshall (who knows his way around a musical, including “Into the Woods” and “Chicago”), and it gets everything mostly right. Marshall brings his theatrical showmanship to the numbers, and the film really shines during the recreation of Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman’s memorable songs (and Lin-Manuel Miranda co-wrote three originals with Menken). “Part of Your World” is stirringly staged and made breathtaking by Halle Bailey’s mountain-moving belter voice alone. “Under the Sea” is a splashy, vibrantly colored delight, and “Kiss the Girl” remains extremely catchy and romantic (along with a fresh way to get Eric to figure out her name during their twilight rowboat ride). Besides a thrilling close-call with a shark, the “dry for wet” effects aren’t always seamlessly rendered, and some of the underwater scenes are a little too cloudy. Something just feels off about the merpeople’s bobbing hair, not allowing us to instantly feel transported or fully believe that we’re under the sea; James Cameron has admittedly spoiled us. Even if this remake is nearly an hour longer than the original film, the script by David Magee (2022’s “A Man Called Otto”) brings much more necessary depth to the Ariel-Eric relationship. Rather than just dragging out the archaic notion of a human man saving a mermaid, Eric and Ariel now have more in common.


Coupled with the expressive and charismatic Halle Bailey, Jonah Hauer-King is tasked with what could have been a thankless part as Prince Eric. Disney princes haven’t always had much going on besides dashing good looks, but Hauer-King more than fits the bill by having both a strong screen presence and Eric being fleshed out on the page beyond being a square-jawed hunk. Having time to spend time together on the Caribbean island and actually connect, both Bailey and Hauer-King have a sweet way with each other and really make you root for their relationship before Ursula comes between them. As Ariel’s digitally photorealistic animal friends, Daveed Diggs and Awkwafina provide lively, often hilarious comic relief with their distinct deliveries as educated, Jamaican-accented crustacean Sebastian and loopy seagull Scuttle. Even Awkwakina’s potentially annoying gossip rap, “The Scuttlebutt,” could become an irresistible earworm. Only does Jacob Tremblay, while cute, feel too sidelined to make more of an impression as sidekick Flounder. In her first truly villainous part, Melissa McCarthy is divine as sea witch Ursula, a voluptuous, tentacled bundle of evil manipulation. Initially, McCarthy seems to just be channeling the indelible Pat Carroll before putting her own devilishly funny and even sad spin on the Divine-inspired character. McCarthy is already a commanding presence and unafraid to go big, but what she does with the role is more juicy than campy; her rendition of “Poor Unfortunate Souls” is also another musical highlight. 


With the excision of antics between Sebastian and the hatchet-happy, “Les Poissons”-singing chef, the film is able to expand upon the characters a bit more and deepen the story’s themes of tolerance and inclusivity with a touching earnestness. Now, will all of the live-action Disney remakes be able to match the magic of their animated counterparts? No, certainly not. But those who don’t go in with their “dinglehoppers” raised may come out of “The Little Mermaid” pleasantly surprised with the pretty enchanting results. 


Grade: B


Walt Disney Pictures is releasing “The Little Mermaid” (135 min.) in theaters on May 26, 2023. 

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