The Little Mermaid

A winsome, feel good reimagining of the classic animation buoyed by a perfectly cast Halle Bailey and a superbly on-point Alan Menken (his score was on overdrive), this was an absolutely fun and engaging live-action Disney remake that successfully rode the wave of nostalgia for the adults, but yet also very likely to leave an indelible mark on this new generation of young ones. 

The four classic songs, as always, remained highlights with Daveed Diggs’ Sebastian stealing the spotlight with a brilliantly updated version of “Under the Sea” (choreographed with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre!) that was so much fun and a definite high point. But of course, we started first with Bailey’s powerful and soulful singing through “Part of your world”, instantly transporting back to the days of my youth. The next scene stealer then belonged to “Kiss the Girl” - omg, just please kiss the girl!!! Lastly, we had Melissa McCarthy hamming it up as Ursula (with a bit of extra backstory potentially laying the grounds for a backdoor villain origin story á la “Maleficent”) and doing a terrifically scary rendition of “Poor Unfortunate Souls”. 

The new songs, on the other hand, mostly did not work. Prince Eric’s new solo, “Wild Unchartered Waters” had some of the most forced rhyming courtesy of Lin-Manuel Miranda, and melodically, Menken made it a belter, but Jonah Hauer-King, though decent, did not do it justice. Perhaps, considering this, they should have cast a singer/Broadway star? Miranda’s other contribution, “The Scuttlebug”, fared better, but will also depend on how one feels about a sudden inclusion of a rap in a Disney musical, and also of Awkafina’s rapping. “For the First Time”, on the other hand, was better written, beautifully expressing Ariel’s emotion and state of mind, and sung so passionately by Bailey that it was hard not to empathise with our little mermaid. 

Acting-wise, Bailey was great as the love lorn ingenue, but less convincing in the more serious moments. Nonetheless, it were the former moments that really sold the story especially in the first two acts. McCarthy was hammy but boy, they did Ursula dirty with that makeup. Hauer-King was easy on the eyes and he had chemistry with Bailey, but he does not leave much of an impression. And Javier Bardem was absolutely miscast. Voice-acting wise, Diggs was a winner, Awkafina’s mileage depends on how much one can tolerate her voice though at least her screen time was not too much, and Jacob Tremblay was a perfect Flounder (his CGI counterpart less so). 

And yes, the CGI was highly distracting (and sometimes distressing). This was, undoubtedly, no “Avatar 2” which has set the standard so high for all future underwater films. However, in this case, even the above-water, land-based scenes were badly CGI-ed. 

But despite its faults, “The Little Mermaid” had enough charm, nostalgia and feel goodness to surf through its over 2 hours run time (135 minutes) to bring smiles, laughters, drama, tension, romance and just a jolly fun time!