There’s no doubt that Disney’s The Little Mermaid (1989) had a far-reaching radical effect on Disney as a company that brought upon what many refer to as the period after its release, “The Disney Renaissance” era. The fledgling animation studio struggled after the financial disappointment of The Black Cauldron (1985). Ever since Walt Disney’s death, the company has had a difficult time forming an identity in the highly competitive marketplace.

John Musker and Ron Clements came in at the right time to concoct the remedy in a musical fairy tale that would change animation musicals forever about a mermaid yearning to be human while defeating an evil sea witch. The film became an instant classic and signaled a turning point for Disney in being the studio that inspired whimsy and movie magic, resulting in more iconic Disney animated music, such as The Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), and more. That was 34 years ago, and since then, we have seen Disney change from a studio that took on bold visions and risk-taking to a studio of regurgitation and laziness. Remaking their library of animated films into live-action would seem, on the surface, an attempt at pushing the boundaries of what live-action special effects can accomplish while introducing a new generation of children moviegoers to characters that have enchanted audiences for decades. 

We’ve seen the good—The Jungle Book (2016), Cinderella (2015), Pete’s Dragon (2016); we’ve seen the bad—Alice in Wonderland (2010), The Lion King (2019), Pinocchio (2022); and the forgettable—Beauty and the Beast (2017), Mulan (2020), Lady and the Tramp (2019). Rob Marshall’s The Little Mermaid falls somewhere between excellent and forgettable. The film enacts changes that genuinely do make the narrative better and is able to stand apart from the animated film, yet, it’s pathetically tied so much by the blueprint set about by the classic film it manages to feel redundant by the end. Like many remakes that have come before it, the film does an admirable job of recreating scenes and sequences from the original film, and some certainly are elevated by the technological advancement of special effects. Other sequences lack the lively colorfulness that made the animated film become a classic.

Rob Marshall’s latest entry in the live-action pantheon succeeds in bringing Ariel to life with a magnificent star-making performance by Halle Bailey. Her performance succeeds in adding numerous dimensions and layers to Ariel. She is inquisitive without feeling forced, charming without being cloying—Bailey is the film’s best case for being, as her screen presence is palpable that invites the viewer into her affable aurora. It’s kind of saddening to see her talents saddled with a lackluster, safe film doing everything it can to avoid straying far from the material. Hopefully, this catapults her into many high-caliber projects befitting her talents. 

Much like the original, this version finds Ariel (Halle Bailey) longing to explore the human world above the ocean, much to the dismay of her overbearing father, Triton (Javier Bardem). Ariel spends her day-to-day collecting human artifacts from abandoned ships, aided by her fish friend, Flounder (Jacob Tremblay). Her room is chock-full of these artifacts, as her fascination knows no bounds. It’s not long until she finds herself rescuing Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) after he almost drowns following his crew’s ship sinking in a hurricane. As she brings him onto shore the next morning, she sings her mermaid chant that quickly becomes embedded into his memory. Before he awakes, she returns to the ocean, but now with a Prince determined to find the woman responsible for the intoxicating chant.

Triton is adamant Ariel can never interact with the human world and has tasked his right-hand crab, Sebastian (Daveed Diggs), to keep track of her and what she does. Ariel goes to her aunt, Ursula (Melissa McCarthy), and soon finds and gives up her mermaid qualities, including her angelic voice, in order to have legs and meet Eric. But she has three days until sunset to kiss Eric as her true love, or she loses her legs and becomes part of Ursula’s imprisoned creatures. (A change to the original film: Ursula has put on a cheat spell to make Arield forget her true love’s first kiss mission, to which Sebastian and Skuttle take it upon themselves to finish the job.)

Rob Marshall isn’t so much interested in reimagining The Little Mermaid but in translating it with a new coat of paint. The “reimagination” comes in the form of special effects that point out the glaring constraint live-action has in how many movements an organic being is capable of doing. There’s a superficiality to the underwater sequences, as everything looks too clean for a world that’s home to human shipwrecks and trinkets that Ariel collects. Objects and creatures lack a sense of weight to make them feel more substantial as they move around with no sense of momentum or energy. There’s an airiness to the proceedings that undercut some of the dramatic stakes that take place near the climax.

The giant Ursula sea witch that comes in the third act is simply ugly—so dark to make out the effects set against a thunderous stormy backdrop meant to hide the imperfect special effects. Thankfully, some sequences bring out the zesty energy that animation helped bring to life, such as Sebastian’s “Under The Sea” which is lively in its construction of bringing to life all types of underwater sea creatures—though, unlike, say, Aquaman (2018). Marshal may be no James Cameron when it comes to creating underwater worlds. Still, he at least brings about some vigor in some of the musical sequences that easily supplant the lackluster live-action sequences in previous Disney remakes that have come beforehand. Yet, the film never feels adventurous; it’s all rather safe and predictable, which to its detriment, keeps it from escaping the shadow of its predecessor.

The narrative structure of the original film is laid intact, with some variations that help provide more dimensions to Ariel and Price Eric. As Ariel spends the second act without her voice, Marshal and Lin-Manuel Miranda wisely allow Ariel more interiority, as a new song is incorporated to provide Ariel more of a presence than in the animated film. “For the First Time” is a great addition to exploring Ariel’s excitement and enthusiasm as she discovers the good and bad of having legs as she explores the peculiarities of being human. It’s an expansion from the character, who originally seemed more enamored with being with a human boy than what the above word had to offer.

Bailey’s wide-eyed curiosity and warmth assist in forming the character who is more interested in the facets of being a human than just being enamored with one. Eric is allowed to be more than inquisitive of the free world than being saddled with being an adopted Prince for a royal family. He’s given his own song, though. It’s far less impacting than Bailey’s song, “Wild Uncharted Waters,” which allows Eric the possibility of wanting to explore the unknown world with the being that saved him from drowning. It’s a nice song but far less affecting than Baiely’s exciting solo. 

Yet, it’s also in this expansion the remake finds itself with more lingering questions than answers. We’re introduced to the fact that Ariel’s mother was killed by humans, as confirmed by King Triton, and so the animosity between humans and merpeople is based on bad blood between the two worlds. Earlier in the film, Eric prevents a drunken sailor from harpooning a dolphin, confusing it for a mermaid. Where was this hostility born from? Do all humans mistrust merpeople? Have there been more incidents of merpeople being killed by humans, or vice versa? This is the dilemma—the more the remake tries to expand the world, the more it leaves with fewer resolutions and more questions.

But the remake isn’t interested in exploring new ideas. It’s more focused on rehashing the familiar nostalgic beats of the original to cater to an audience that has grown up with Disney films who now have children of their own they can introduce. At the end of the day, no one involved in the making of this film is at fault for what was a business decision; Marshal and screenwriter David Magee tried their best to flesh out characters from the original to make the remake more in service of adapting the material for a modern audience, but sadly are saddled with a baggy film that is weighed down by its own levels at differentiating itself.

The rest of the cast is serviceable, with Daveed Diggs and Melissa McCarthy adding their own spins to their beloved characters. Diggs does his best not to imitate Samuel E. Wright’s iconic performance as Sebastian, as he allows his own vivacious personality to shine through the character animation and turns in a respectful spin on the character. McCarthy wisely does not try to recreate Pat Carroll’s incredible vocal performance, as McCarthy’s Ursula is far more subdued, which allows the insidious nature of the character to slowly creep up in the film. She’s less campy and more dismayed by feeling betrayed by Triton. Sadly, this relationship, as well as hers with Ariel, is underdeveloped and could’ve allowed McCarthy to make this Ursula more personal and intense. But the performance is good enough not to emulate Carroll’s work and is able to stand above some of Disney’s recent live-action villain performances. Bardem is a disappointment, as he seems so disinterested in attempting any gravitas or screen presence that it makes one appreciate Kenneth Mars’s performance as the character. His King Triton was intimidating, infused with an air of importance; Bardem looked rather bored and incapable of mustering a level above his monotone work. 

The animated classics will continue to thrive and reverberate through generations that will outlast the pale imitations these live-action remakes attempt to become. The Little Mermaid, at best, is a respectable version of a familiar tale that will introduce a new generation of children to the magic of the animated film. One can hope they will seek out that classic and get the best of both worlds: they can witness the lovely stardom of Halle Bailey and her magical performance while being reminded of some of the magic 2D animation is capable by the hands of artists that have made the Disney corporation what it is today. The live-action remakes simply want to partake in the magic of the original films, while the animated classics just want to be part of a new generation of moviegoers that sadly won’t get to see on a giant movie theater screen. Such a strange predicament mass entertainment finds itself in—being part of two polar opposite worlds. 

Review Courtesy of Amritpal Rai

You can listen to our team’s thoughts and discussion of the film here.

Feature Image Credit to Walt Disney Studios via Variety