For just over a year, I have been a member of Cineworld’s unlimited cinema scheme which allows me access to as many screenings as I can handle for just £11 a month. For the price of just under two standard cinema tickets a month, I can pop into Cineworld to check out the latest realises! If this is something that you would like to sign up for then use my referral code RAF-41UF-82LQ-14EX-70BM which gifts both you and myself with a totally free month of unlimited cinema! As I have been a part of this scheme for over a year I have been gifted a glamorous black card which means I also now get 25% off in-cinema snacks but also 3D movies are now included at no extra cost! Not only was I able to check out the brand new live-action adaptation of Disney’s The Little Mermaid with the ticket costing me nothing but thanks to my black card o could see it in 3D for free! There are very few things in this world that are free and on the rare occasion when you do find something there is usually a catch or reason for it having no cost. Sadly this movie did fall into this rule as the 3D elements (that I was so excited about) were off for a big chunk of the film. If you have ever taken 3D glasses off during a 3D film you will know that the screen actually is quite blurry due to the two images layered on top of each other (which creates that coming off-the-screen effect) but even when I had my glasses on, this blur could still be seen. While the staff at Cineworld were able to fix this issue fairly quickly, I would say the first thirty minutes were somewhat difficult to watch!
The first thing you need to keep in mind when heading this year’s version of the little mermaid is that, unlike the original movie, it is a live-action adaptation. While the movie follows exactly the same narrative the characters are played by real people with three minor characters being the actual animals they were supposed to represent. The change from animated to live-action allowed the movie to have a much more intense and dark atmosphere which was more along to the original story by Hans Christian Andersen than the cheery tale presented by Disney Studios! I thought that the inclusion of Sebastian the Crab (played by Tony Award winner Daveed Diggs), Flounder the Fish (played by Canadian superstar Jacob Tremblay) and Scuttle the Seagull (played by the talented Awkwafina) did seem somewhat out of place when put alongside the human actors on the stage. These characters were realistic-looking animals and when you consider the scale difference between a fully grown human and a carb for example, you can already imagine the strange height dynamic that exists throughout the whole film. As a fan of the Broadway musical adaptation, I am so used to seeing the likes of Titus Burges in a crab costume so seeing an actual to-scale crab singing was a bit unusual. There was one moment in the movie that perfectly balance the audience’s affection of the animated movie with the live-action elements which was during the song “Kiss the Girl” when Ariel and Eric were sat on a spinning boat with real fish spitting water over the boat creating somewhat of a water fountain that was the Disney spectacle we have come to expect with a real-world exploration that I thought worked perfectly!
Even before the 2023 adaptation of the little mermaid hit the screens it was clouded in controversy, mostly due to casting choices. The internet appeared to erupt with anger as it was announced that the main character Ariel would be played by Halle Bailey who is famously a POC whereas the original animated Ariel was not. I cannot get my head around the fact that people are so outraged by the fact that a magical, singing mermaid has a different skin colour than an animated character! I personally think that Halle managed to perfectly capture the nativity and innocence of the character which allowed the impulsive elements to make sense within the narrative. It also inadvertently generated a greater sense of sympathy for the quick-tempered king titan played in this version by Javier Bardem. A highlight of Ariel’s performance in this movie would have to be the iconic “Part of your world” which showcase the emotional breadth of the characters Ariel. I was not aware that Halle was such a talented vocalist as this number was fantastically performed but the character work behind the song was particularly impressive! Those who have been following my blog for a while will know that I am a massive fan of the sassy sea witch Ursula (which I talked about in length during my review of Unfortunate, available at https://rhysreviews.com/2020/04/26/unfortunate-soundtrack-review/) and so was heartbroken a year ago when it was announced that the incredible Pat Carol had sadly passed away. Pat was probably most well known for being the original voice of Ursula in Disney’s animated The Little Mermaid. This passing alongside the fact that they were remaking the original movie, made me wonder who they would possibly invite to reprise such an iconic role. It was initially extremely surprising when it was announced that it would be played by the hilarious Melissa McCarthy. While I have been a massive fan of the Bridesmaids stars for many years, she is known for her comedic talents rather than singing/performing. Fans of this movie/this character will know that the original Ursula was inspired by the eccentric Divine as so the world was wondering how the producers of this remake would channel the drag elements with this non-drag actress. However, I was excited to learn that as an aspiring actor in the 90s, Melisa actually worked as a drag queen in New York! I was actually pleasantly surprised by Melisa in this role as she managed to capture the campy and comedic moments with the dark/intense influences of the movie! The highlight of this character would have to be the moment when Ursula grows into a towering giant and began essentially terrorising Ariel and her lover Eric (played in this version by Jonah Hauer-King.) I do have to say that I was a little disappointed by the edits to the iconic “Poor unfortunate souls” song as they completely cut an extremely camp “body language” verse/moment from the track as this is one of my favourite parts on the song!
Overall, I don’t fully understand when the creative team at Disney believed that this iconic movie needed a live-action adaptation as this created a very strange relationship between characters played by actors and the animal-based characters. Seeing a realistic-looking crab, fish and seagull talking to Halle Bailey for example just created a very strange visual and rehearsing these scenes would be have interesting to see. The live-action elements allowed a much more intense vibe which paid homage to the original story and so creates somewhat of a distance between the original movie and this remake. While the entire cast was extremely talented and showcased their performing abilities excellently, I think that while slightly different in mood the legacy of the original movie meant that the remake was always going to fall flat. I would rate this movie 3.5 stars of our of 5!
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