Title: The Little Mermaid
Year: 2023
Director: Rob Marshall
Country: US
Language: English
When Halle Bailey was announced as being Ariel in the live action remake of Disney's The Little Mermaid (1989), the internet had a giant hissy There was outrage over Bailey's skin colour (she doesn't look like the original!) and outrage over the outrage. Twitter would not shut up for several weeks. Was this film worth the memes? Lets see.
A young mermaid (Halle Bailey) makes a deal with a sea witch (Melissa McCarthy) to trade her beautiful voice for human legs so she can discover the world above water and impress a prince.
Halle Bailey's acting is the ONLY good part about this film. She brings a youthful exuberance; a much needed energy for this dull picture. Her looks strike a good balance betwen innocent & provocative.
The lighting in this- and all of Disney's live action remakes - is absolutely dreadful. So many scenes are lit so poorly that you have to squint to see what's going on. The set design is garbage. This is a story about Kings and Princes and yet we have no sense of the scope of their Kingdoms. Whenever we see King Triton he's sitting on a rock in the middle of nowhere. Is he homeless? How come I have a better housing situation than he does!?
Melissa McCarthy's Ursula lacks sass and her lines are sarcasm free. The animals (Sebastian, Flounder etc) have no real emotional weight or charisma. By now we know these live action remakes are half-assed productions, so why do they make so much money? It would be a sad state of cinema if not for the success of Barbenheimmer.
ZERO STARS
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