Released in 1989, the original The Little Mermaid launched Disney’s 1990s renaissance with musical virtuosity and visual aplomb. This live-action/computer-generated remake coasts on much of that film’s charm, while also squashing a fair bit of it. As Ariel, the rebellious mermaid who falls for a human prince, pop singer Halle Bailey brings not only a powerhouse voice, but also a newfound spunkiness in her movements and gestures (she might actually be an improvement on the character). And while I had feared that Melissa McCarthy, as Ursula the sea witch, would lean too much into comedy, she too is excellent, deliciously honoring the voluptuous villainy of the original character design and Pat Carroll’s vocal performance. Unfortunately, poor choices on the part of director Rob Marshall and the rest of the filmmakers surround these performances. Excising “Les Poissons” seems strange, especially when time is given to “Wild Uncharted Waters,” a bleating ballad from bland Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King). Then there is “The Scuttlebutt,” a rap performed by Awkwafina and Daveed Diggs, as Scuttle and Sebastian respectively, that’s downright disastrous (despite music by original Mermaid composer Alan Menken and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda). Beyond that, there is also the much-discussed issue of the film’s visual murkiness. It’s not just the scenes in undersea caves or rainy storms that are severely underlit, but even a sequence in Prince Eric’s study. This isn’t to say that brightness would solve everything; like most of these remakes, The Little Mermaid mostly takes place in an uncanny valley between imaginative invention and relatable live action. When we can see what’s on the screen, it tends to look like a cheapie commercial for Royal Caribbean Cruises.
(8/19/2023)
