Review: The Little Mermaid ★★★★

The beloved story of Ariel, a beautiful and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure, “The Little Mermaid” stars singer and actress Halle Bailey (“grown-ish”) as Ariel; Tony Award® winner Daveed Diggs (“Hamilton,” “Snowpiercer”) as the voice of Sebastian; Jacob Tremblay (“Luca,” “Room”) as the voice of Flounder; Awkwafina (“Raya and the Last Dragon”) as the voice of Scuttle; Jonah Hauer-King (“A Dog’s Way Home”) as Prince Eric; Art Malik (“Homeland”) as Sir Grimsby; Noma Dumezweni (“Mary Poppins Returns”) as Queen Selina; with Oscar® winner Javier Bardem (“No Country for Old Men,” “Being the Ricardos”) as King Triton; and two-time Academy Award® nominee Melissa McCarthy (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?” “Bridesmaids”) as Ursula. The youngest of King Triton’s daughters, and the most defiant, Ariel longs to find out more about the world beyond the sea, and while visiting the surface, falls for the dashing Prince Eric. While mermaids are forbidden to interact with humans, Ariel must follow her heart. She makes a deal with the evil sea witch, Ursula, which gives her a chance to experience life on land, but ultimately places her life – and her father’s crown – in jeopardy.

The beloved story of Ariel, a beautiful and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure, “The Little Mermaid” stars singer and actress Halle Bailey (“grown-ish”) as Ariel; Tony Award® winner Daveed Diggs (“Hamilton,” “Snowpiercer”) as the voice of Sebastian; Jacob Tremblay (“Luca,” “Room”) as the voice of Flounder; Awkwafina (“Raya and the Last Dragon”) as the voice of Scuttle; Jonah Hauer-King (“A Dog’s Way Home”) as Prince Eric; Art Malik (“Homeland”) as Sir Grimsby; Noma Dumezweni (“Mary Poppins Returns”) as Queen Selina; with Oscar® winner Javier Bardem (“No Country for Old Men,” “Being the Ricardos”) as King Triton; and two-time Academy Award® nominee Melissa McCarthy (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?” “Bridesmaids”) as Ursula. The youngest of King Triton’s daughters, and the most defiant, Ariel longs to find out more about the world beyond the sea, and while visiting the surface, falls for the dashing Prince Eric. While mermaids are forbidden to interact with humans, Ariel must follow her heart. She makes a deal with the evil sea witch, Ursula, which gives her a chance to experience life on land, but ultimately places her life – and her father’s crown – in jeopardy.

I have the attention span of a two-year old when it comes to movies, so they have to really captivate me within the first 30 minutes for me to be completely invested. Unfortunately, this one fell a bit flat to me. The film could have easily shaved off 30 minutes. I will give credit where it’s due, Halle Bailey was a pleasant surprise in her role as Ariel and had a beautiful voice to compliment the original songs in the film, as for her acting … she did well for her first big role. Now when it comes to Prince Eric… mehhhh. Is all I can say, I didn’t feel like there was really any chemistry between the two and he was not making us all swoon over him. I mean come on, the original version of the film, he’s a cartoon and we were all swooning.

Now the real surprise was Melissa McCarthy, who I will say I am not a huge fan of her, but she slayed the role as Ursula. She really embodied the role of the sea witch and I was totally there for it. Also, who knew she could sing?! I will say her song lacked some soul, which is not really her fault but rather how the song was arranged.

Speaking of song arrangements, my biggest fail for this film was the music. Who arranged these songs and why did we even mess with the arrangements?! Why not perform them the way they were performed in the original. This is what’s wrong with remakes… they want to remake these classic and then mess with the songs and then fail at it.

All in all, the film was not a complete fail, but could have been better. It was beautiful to visually watch. Will it keep the little ones entertained, it depends. If they’re a Little Mermaid fan, I would say yes, if not… just wait for it to come out on Disney+.