- Title: The Little Mermaid (2023)
- IMDb: link
The latest unnecessary live-action Disney remake cast Halle Bailey as mermaid princess Ariel who dreams of visiting the surface world despite her father’s (Javier Bardem) distrust of humans. While not the most awkward adaptation Disney has tried, there’s nothing in this version of The Little Mermaid that doesn’t feel like a pale comparison to the original 1989 animated-film whose theme of a girl giving up her own voice for love I’ve always found a bit problematic.
Bailey is fine here attempting to infuse the film with as much heart as possible, and Melissa McCarthy is in full scene-eating mode as Ursula, but the rest of the film is rather flat and completely forgettable including the bland Eric (Jonah Hauer-King).
Your reaction to this version will depend on your opinion of the original (which this doesn’t measure up to) and if you’ve already soured on these “live” (i.e. heavily CGI influenced) remakes. Other than Beauty and the Beast, bolstered by Emma Watson‘s performance, none of them for me has worked well enough to be worth a second viewing (and many of them arguably weren’t worthy of even a single viewing).
Watch the trailer
