When Disney announced the production of a live action remake of their 1989 animated classic, "The Little Mermaid," which audiences knew would end up in the bargain bin with the rest of their remakes, I didn't really care. There was no reason to. All their other live action remakes have been terrible. To be fair, some were less terrible than others. Otherwise, none of these remakes have been anything better than "o.k." For the most part, they're often dull and uninspired.
Last year's "The Little Mermaid" is no different.
The original movie certainly was a major help in hoisting Disney out of the dark and drab slump they found themselves in during the 1980s. So, modern Disney did what it does best and crapped over their own saving movie by producing a poor version of it to appease a particular faction.
I had put complete trust in the film's trailers which looked uninspiring and bored. So, that's what I expected. A boring and uninspiring movie. And I wasn't disappointed...but yet, I was.
This movie is a dull insult to classic Disney - courtesy of modern Disney. And it shows, beginning with the acting.
Like most of the other live action Disney remakes of their own classic animated movies, "The Little Mermaid" is basically a shot for shot remake severely lacking emotion. King Triton (Javier Bardem) has no emotion. Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) has no emotion, especially when he breaks into his song.
The acting all around deserves to be drowned in the depths of the sea. It's terrible. No one has any convincing emotions. They all go through the motions, repeating the lines audiences loved in the animated movie, and sing a few new songs which are forgettable.
While Jenna McCarthy's appearance as Ursula isn't bad, her performance is a passible impression of Pat Carrol's performance of the animated Ursula, right down to her voice fluctuation.
And Awkwafina's lines for Ariel's friend Scuttle the northern gannet bird (he was a seagull in the cartoon) are awkward, random and sound scripted. Her voice stands out like a raspy ragged fowl rather than a song bird. Her singing would surely make Walt Disney himself scratch his head as if to say "did that come outta you" before issuing some job terminations.
Halle Bailey's performance as Ariel isn't any better. She goes through all the actions like she's waiting for it all to end because there's a paycheck at the end of the job. She is just unconvincing and lacking emotion.
All around, "The Little Mermaid" is a dull cash grab of an older property that relies so much on the animated movie. Why even bother with this?
The original movie pops with color and life. This one doesn't!
The producers worked too hard to make this all too realistic. "The Little Mermaid" isn't meant to be this realistic.
The sea creatures aren't meant to look as real as they are. It makes them forgettable and hurts what little (if any) unique characteristics they might possess.
And by the way, how does Triton have daughters of different nationalities? How did that come about? Maybe I don't want to know.
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| Halle Bailey as 'Ariel' in Disney's "The Little Mermaid." |
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