You may have noticed, but Disney seems really into remaking their classic features in live-action. Since Alice In Wonderland climbed to a billion in 2010, we’ve been given new variations of beloved properties ranging from Kenneth Branagh’s gorgeously camp Cinderella to the enjoyable if forgettable Aladdin and the uncanny full-CG experiment of The Lion King.
Most have been hugely successful at the box-office, but among fans and critics, they have proven divisive, with many rarely bringing much new to the table beyond the simple fact being that they look different. With Disney committed to the idea, there was one live-action remake that always seemed inevitable, that being 1989’s The Little Mermaid, the hit that many credit as the start of Disney’s second renaissance period.
The original is one many Disney fans hold dear, from its imaginative character designs to the songbook written by Alan Menken and his late, great partner Howard Ashman. The live-action remake was inevitable, as is the likely trepidation attitude from fans who hold the original so dear. With Rob Marshall directing and Lin Manuel-Mirinda joining Menken to both update the originals and write a couple of additional songs, this version of The Little Mermaid once again sadly struggles to justify its existence beyond being a sure-fire hit for the studio, despite some charming elements within.
The plot is largely the same following Ariel (Halle Bailey) the youngest mermaid daughter of King Triton (Javier Bardem) who is fascinated by the surface world, despite her father forbidding her from ever going there. After saving young Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King), from a shipwreck and falling in love and inciting her father’s rage, Ariel turns to the scheming sea witch Ursula (Melissa McCarthy) and makes a deal to trade her beautiful voice for the chance to be human and get to know Eric better and see if it really is true love. But of course, Ursula has designs of her own, and isn’t about to let Ariel’s path to true love run smoothly.
From the opening moments of huge crashing waves, there’s a sense that Marshall wants to bring a classically epic feeling to the proceedings, backed up by his skay cam style to meeting Prince Eric and his crew out on their last sea-faring voyage. But that quickly falls away once we head under the sea, a world that was so beautifully rendered back in 2D animation.
Here, however, Marshall struggles to bring a sense of life to the flat CGI-driven world of Ariel and Triton. The actors often feel like they’re on a soundstage, and while it works for the likes of the more contained musical moments, such as Part Of Your World (one of many moments where Bailey demonstrates her stunning vocal range), it robs the likes of Under the Sea of the vibrancy it should be providing. That particular sequence is disappointingly lifeless, cluttered with CGI creatures that range from colourful to the distractingly realistic in their designs, with simply too much thrown on the screen to make it work as an enjoyable song and dance centrepiece. And criminally, no bass plays the bass, and no carp plays the harp.
The film is at its best once it gets out of the water, as we follow Ariel as he aims to forge a relationship with Eric without the use of her voice. It’s refreshing to be on-location on an actual island, with actual sets and two actors who have sweet and easy chemistry with one another. Hauer-King is much more at ease in his role of Eric whenever he’s with Bailey, and it helps the central relationship work. Bailey herself is the highlight of the movie: she’s definitely got the voice, but she also has the kind of charming charisma that is impossible to deny.
Elsewhere on the performance level, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. Melissa McCarthy is clearly having fun as Ursula and does a pretty decent Pat Carroll impression for the most part, but is hampered by some weird makeup decisions and – again – a heavy CG approach that hides much of her face, particularly in the final act. Bardem never quite feels comfortable in the role as Triton, while the voice performances from Daveed Diggs and Awkawafina as Sebastian and Scuttle often feel quite jarring – as do some of Lin Manuel’s additions to the songs (‘The Scuttlebutt’ is criminally cringe).
The Little Mermaid 2023 is another mixed bag of a live-action adaptation. The spectacle under the sea never works, with Marshall struggling to bring life to the surroundings. But there are some pearls of charms within. Bailey carries the film and puts in the kind of performance that will surely cement her as a rising star to look out for, while the original songs remain as catchy as ever, thanks to the undeniable talents of Menken and Ashman in their prime. But many of the new additions fall flat, with the film ultimately proving to be another one of these (seemingly never-ending) remake projects that do little to improve upon the original or offer much in the way of a convincing reason to be beyond being a surefire cash-in.
The Little Mermaid is released in cinemas on 26th May.
The Little Mermaid (2023)
Summary
While the original songs remain as catchy as ever, The Little Mermaid (2023) is another mixed bag of a live-action adaptation though this mostly fails to improve upon the original.
