Disney is making many live action remake films of old animated films. The recent live action remake they made is The Little Mermaid. The animated version and original film The Little Mermaid was made in 1989. The film was a huge success at the Box Office at the time of its release when it was much needed for Disney. The live action remake fails to recreate the magic of the original one and ends up being an average affair. Live action remakes should be made as we get to see actual performance. Actual performance by real human beings and computerized performance are two different things. Performances are the only thing where you can score higher than the original. Otherwise it’s hard to match the original. We can’t expect remake to be better than the original but it shouldn’t be ruined like this.
The youngest daughter of King Triton named Ariel is a beautiful and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure. Ariel has a melodious voice and loves singing. Longing to find out more about the world beyond the sea, curious Ariel visits the surface. On one of her visits to the surface forbidden by her father she saves a dashing looking Prince Eric from a shipwreck and falls for him. Following her heart, she makes a deal by trading her voice for human legs with the evil and dangerous sea witch, Ursula, to experience life on land and to win over Eric’s love. Ariel only has 3 days to succeed in her plan but little does she know that all this is a part of Ursula’s evil plan to overthrow Triton and rule the seas. Will Ariel succeed in winning Eric’s love or will Ursula succeed in her evil plan? To find the answers watch The Little Mermaid.
The film has a very good VFX and as it is a Disney project there has been no compromise at all on the budget. Apart from VFX nothing works here. The biggest letdown is the casting of the lead actress Halle Bailey. As we have heard in stories many times that a mermaid is a beautiful looking aquatic creature who has the head and upper body of a female and the tail of a fish. But here the mermaid is a dark skinned lady who isn’t that beautiful. I am not being a racist here, but as per the story and character some gorgeous, beautiful and good looking lady should have been casted for this role. The main character fails to hold your attention and that’s the reason you don’t feel much attached to the film. The main character of your film should be appealing as he/she has the most screen-space and if it fails to do so your film goes wrong. The Little Mermaid has its basics gone wrong.
Acting wise Halle Baileyas Ariel is good but looks wise doesn’t suit the role. Some beautiful looking and charming actress would have been perfect. Jonah Hauer-King as Eric is good in his role. Melissa McCarth looks deadly as sea witch and performs better than everyone. Javier Bardem as King Triton (Ariel’s father) doesn’t live upto the mark and fails to leave an impact. Noma Dumezweni as Queen Salina (Eric’s adopted mother) is a newly introduced character which doesn’t get much to prove herself. The rest of the cast is decent.
The original film had a duration of 83 minutes and this live action remake is 135 minutes long. There has been no changes made in the screenplay. The film has been unnecessarily dragged for so long which makes you bored. The 1st half is too slow and will make you go to sleep. The 2nd half has some action sequences to keep you awake. The last 30 minutes are enjoyable. The film which created magic only in 83 minutes should not have been dragged too much. The unnecessarily dragging has killed the magic and the essence of the film is lost. Many unnecessary scenes should have been trimmed to make this one a crispy product. The narrative fails to hold your attention.
The set design, visual effects, action sequences and other technical aspects have been fantastic. The director had a ready-made script in his hands and had to just execute it perfectly but he failed to do it. The screenplay looks dull and falling at places. This musical fantasy never excites you much. The actual outer world and inner aqua world is well presented and is eye-pleasing but the show going on is a big bore.
Overall, The Little Mermaid only has a little for you in the store which isn’t enough looking at the scale of the project. The film could be watched with less expectations by those who haven’t watched the original yet. The film has only impressive VFX and nothing else which could hold your attention. A magical film is ruined by unnecessarily dragging which makes it a strictly average affair.
Rating – 2.5/5*
Watch the trailer below:
