The Little Mermaid opens in theaters on May 26, 2023
The Little Mermaid, like Disney’s other live-action adaptations of its animated classics, is an engine running on nostalgia. While it is full of heart, that spirit is owed in a major way to the iconic music and ever-relatable story of the original. Nothing that was added in to pad out its runtime to a whopping two hours feels entirely necessary. It’s not that this version of The Little Mermaid is bad – it’s arguably one of the better live action Disney remakes – it's that, beyond Halle Bailey’s incredible performance as Princess Ariel, there’s little here that makes as much of an impact as the same moments in the animated version.
What’s unquestionable is that Bailey is a powerhouse. She shines as the pearl of The Little Mermaid’s center, inspiring sympathy even as she’s silent for the latter half. The Little Mermaid has always been a story about loneliness, girlhood, and the need to prove oneself, and Bailey balances these themes brilliantly. In moments of levity she bounces with optimism and curiosity, but beautifully grounds her performance in Ariel’s quieter moments of doubt. That a generation of children may feel represented by her is an added bonus.
Most vitally, Bailey imbues her show-stopping rendition of “Part of Your World” with a wild and raw yearning that’s sure to send chills down the spine of anyone who’s ever desperately wanted more. It’s unforgettable. To watch her belt out this ballad of longing for a life beyond that which you feel trapped by is inspiring, and I only wish I could experience it for the first time over and over again. What’s frustrating is that few other musical moments even come close to this high point.
Bailey imbues her show-stopping rendition of "Part of Your World" with a wild and raw yearning.
The second stand-out performance comes from the bitingly funny Melissa McCarthy as Ursula the sea witch. She shines with sinister glory, cleverly bringing to life one of Disney’s most iconic villains without trying too hard to imitate Pat Carroll’s brilliant version exactly. Her take on “Poor Unfortunate Souls” is insanely fun, but the whole sequence is hard to appreciate due to the baffling choice in the dark lighting of her lair.
On that note, considering that nearly half of the two hours is spent underwater, the most disappointing aspect of The Little Mermaid is how lackluster it looks when we’re under the sea. Dim even at the best of times, the depths of the ocean exude an emotional frigidness of sorts, underscored by questionable visual effects. We see few other merpeople beyond Triton (who’s gruff sternness is played capably by Javier Bardem) or his daughters, and there’s something awkward about the way their faces look on their animated bodies. Likewise, the decision to render the sea creatures realistically (rather than take a more fantastical anthropomorphized approach) robs the kingdom of Atlantica of most of its life.
A lifelike crab simply can't emote in the same way the original cartoonish Sebastian can.
The thing is, there’s no real reason Ariel’s animal friends need to look like they swam off the pages of National Geographic. Jacob Tremblay, Awkwafina, and Daveed Diggs sound as though they’re having lots of fun in their roles as Flounder, Scuttle, and Sebastian respectively, but there’s only so much they can do against dubious character design. Maybe it’s meant to ground this story in reality… but was there really a need to ground a Disney classic? Especially one with talking fish? A lifelike crab simply can’t emote in the same way the original cartoonish Sebastian can. By pursuing a realistic style, Ariel’s companions are robbed of most of their humanity and feel more like props rather than fully realized personalities. It’s not a new issue. Disney’s live action Lion King features some stellar vocal performances but Simba and crew suffer from the same stiffness that comes from mapping human emotion on an animal’s face.
The surface is a slightly different story, and here we see the remake expand on Eric’s island (and his love of exploring) in some clever ways. Where the original primarily contains itself within the walls of the castle, this one tries to breathe some life into the island. Through set and costume design, The Little Mermaid works to locate this island in a more Caribbean setting. It’s lively in a way that Atlantica isn’t, full of new sights and sounds and friendly faces. This valiant effort gives some reasoning to Ariel’s decision to leave the sea behind that doesn’t hinge entirely on her brief interactions with Eric (played by Jonah Hauer-King). Like most of the new additions, though, these changes are admirable enough but hardly memorable.
And speaking of additions: let’s talk about those new songs. This is the arena where the live-action adaptation could have set itself apart from the animated original but, unfortunately, it disappoints. Eric delivers a theatrical solo that Hauer-King adeptly tackles vocally, but the timing and lyricism of the song itself renders the moment a bit silly. Another song, “Scuttlebutt,” is a fun quasi-rap performed by Diggs and Awkwafina (and very strongly rings of Lin Manuel-Miranda’s involvement), but its awkward placement – moments before Ariel’s devastating discovery of Ursula’s treachery – is questionable. Really, the only new song that’s woven in seamlessly is “For the First Time,” a bubbly number performed via Ariel’s internal monologue as she experiences the surface for – you guessed it – the first time.
What still works is that this story serves as a reminder of what’s so resonant about Ariel: more than just a romance, it’s about how there’s a danger and desperation in feeling misunderstood and underestimated – and a profound relief when you find a place to belong. What Bailey’s Ariel demonstrates is that The Little Mermaid has always been a story that barely avoids becoming a tragedy (as it famously does in the original fairy tale).
The Verdict
Halle Bailey’s brilliantly vulnerable performance as Ariel is the star of the show in Disney’s live-action remake of The Little Mermaid. Melissa McCarthy follows closely behind with a magnetic performance as Ursula. As a whole, however, this version sometimes struggles to keep itself above water. Its problems lie in lackluster underwater sequences, realistic sea creatures missing cartoonish charm, and additions to the story that are quaint but not necessarily memorable. What works best are the elements it takes from the original, highlighted best by a show-stopping rendition of Part of Your World. While this version doesn’t always find its sea legs, there’s enough of those original ideas recreated here that it can’t go too far wrong.
