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The Little Mermaid (2023)
The 2023 live action version of The Little Mermaid is an eye-popping retelling of the Disney animated classic that goes on a little longer than need be, but provides what everyone looks for in a Disney classic and a movie musical thanks to a proven commodity with musicals in the director's chair.
Arielle is a lovely young mermaid who has an unquenchable curiosity about life at the surface, though she has been forbidden by her father, King Triton, to ever go to the surface and interact with the evil human beings. Of course, Arielle defies her father and makes her way to the surface where she witnesses a shipwreck and instantly falls in love with one of the passengers, the dashing Prince Eric. As the ship goes down, Arielle saves Eric's life but is, of course, forbidden to be with him while Eric begins combing the seaside looking for the woman who saved him.
An evil sea witch named Ursula has been watching what happened with Arielle and confronts her with an offer: She will turn Arielle into a human for three days and if she can get a kiss from Eric, she will remain human and all it will cost Arielle is her voice.
Hans Christian Anderson actually gets onscreen credit as one of the screenwriters for this classic tale and he is assisted by David Magee (Mary Poppins Returns) and John Musker, who wrote the original animated film. They provide the story we expect though it is a bit overstuffed with a few scenes that run much longer than necessary, resulting in the film's slight overlength. The original shipwreck, the scene at the street carnival, and the final battle with Ursula all could have been trimmed a bit. There were some logistical issues that nagged at me throughout as well: At the street fair, they make a big deal out of the fact that Arielle eats flowers and combs her hair with a fork. When she's bathing at the castle she eats soap, but when they're dressing her, she knows exactly what a corset is and even mentions it in her song. How would a mermaid know what a corset is? I also wouldn't have minded seeing Arielle have a little trouble adjusting to having legs.
Fortunately, these minor issues don't deter thanks to the brilliant Rob Marshall at the helm. Marshall directed the 2002 Oscar winner for Best Picture Chicago and the film version of Into the Woods knows exactly what a musical should like and I've said this before: Anytime a musical is brought to the screen these days, Marshall should always direct. He provides perfect staging of musical numbers with perfect choreography for dolphins and sea turtles.
Musical highlights include Arielle's "Part of Your World, Sebastian's "Under the Sea", "Kiss the Girl", Ursula's "Poor Unfortunate Souls" but if the truth be told, my favorite number was a sassy little rap number led by Awkwafina voicing Scuttle called "The Scuttlebutt", written especially for this movie.
Halle Bailey is absolutely enchanting as Arielle...this is a stunning beauty with the voice of a Broadway star. Oscar winner Javier Bardem was terrific as King Triton as was Tony Winner Daveed Diggs (Hamilton as the voice of Sebastian the crab. Melissa McCarthy is nothing short of brilliant as the rotten Ursula, who refuses to play fair. I have to admit that during the final third, I began checking my watch, but found this live action remake first rate entertainment for the most part.
The 2023 live action version of The Little Mermaid is an eye-popping retelling of the Disney animated classic that goes on a little longer than need be, but provides what everyone looks for in a Disney classic and a movie musical thanks to a proven commodity with musicals in the director's chair.
Arielle is a lovely young mermaid who has an unquenchable curiosity about life at the surface, though she has been forbidden by her father, King Triton, to ever go to the surface and interact with the evil human beings. Of course, Arielle defies her father and makes her way to the surface where she witnesses a shipwreck and instantly falls in love with one of the passengers, the dashing Prince Eric. As the ship goes down, Arielle saves Eric's life but is, of course, forbidden to be with him while Eric begins combing the seaside looking for the woman who saved him.
An evil sea witch named Ursula has been watching what happened with Arielle and confronts her with an offer: She will turn Arielle into a human for three days and if she can get a kiss from Eric, she will remain human and all it will cost Arielle is her voice.
Hans Christian Anderson actually gets onscreen credit as one of the screenwriters for this classic tale and he is assisted by David Magee (Mary Poppins Returns) and John Musker, who wrote the original animated film. They provide the story we expect though it is a bit overstuffed with a few scenes that run much longer than necessary, resulting in the film's slight overlength. The original shipwreck, the scene at the street carnival, and the final battle with Ursula all could have been trimmed a bit. There were some logistical issues that nagged at me throughout as well: At the street fair, they make a big deal out of the fact that Arielle eats flowers and combs her hair with a fork. When she's bathing at the castle she eats soap, but when they're dressing her, she knows exactly what a corset is and even mentions it in her song. How would a mermaid know what a corset is? I also wouldn't have minded seeing Arielle have a little trouble adjusting to having legs.
Fortunately, these minor issues don't deter thanks to the brilliant Rob Marshall at the helm. Marshall directed the 2002 Oscar winner for Best Picture Chicago and the film version of Into the Woods knows exactly what a musical should like and I've said this before: Anytime a musical is brought to the screen these days, Marshall should always direct. He provides perfect staging of musical numbers with perfect choreography for dolphins and sea turtles.
Musical highlights include Arielle's "Part of Your World, Sebastian's "Under the Sea", "Kiss the Girl", Ursula's "Poor Unfortunate Souls" but if the truth be told, my favorite number was a sassy little rap number led by Awkwafina voicing Scuttle called "The Scuttlebutt", written especially for this movie.
Halle Bailey is absolutely enchanting as Arielle...this is a stunning beauty with the voice of a Broadway star. Oscar winner Javier Bardem was terrific as King Triton as was Tony Winner Daveed Diggs (Hamilton as the voice of Sebastian the crab. Melissa McCarthy is nothing short of brilliant as the rotten Ursula, who refuses to play fair. I have to admit that during the final third, I began checking my watch, but found this live action remake first rate entertainment for the most part.