Last weekend I took my daughter to see The Little Mermaid, yet another live-action remake of an old Disney classic. I was slightly more optimistic about this one though, because coral reefs and mermaid fins lend themselves better to colour and fantasy than realistic talking lions and warthogs do. I was right. The Little Mermaid is not half bad, which is a lot more than can be said for other recent Disney remakes— in fact, I really enjoyed it.
Halle Bailey plays a beautiful Ariel, and much of the rest of the film is beautiful to match (except Sebastian and Scuttle but we’ll get to them). The bits that were added to the film were mostly good additions, and leaning heavily on mermaid lore and the dangers the sea poses to man. Craggy rocks surround the island kingdom, while the remnants of shipwrecks lie at the bottom of its waters like sleeping sea monsters. They come to life at the end to wonderfully sinister effect—my daughter watched that part through her fingers.
All the ship scenes are wonderful. The hard-bitten, superstitious sailors on board Eric’s ship fear the siren’s call. So does the rest of the island kingdom including the queen, Eric’s adoptive mother. She wants her adventurous son to give up his seafaring and settle into his role as landlubber prince. But he is drawn to the sea, just as Ariel is lured by the wonders of the world above. Jonah Hauer-King plays a somewhat bland Prince Eric, although we must be grateful that the part didn’t go to Jack Whitehall. Shame it wasn’t Harry Styles, who was meant to play the role but turned it down to go on tour. Widespread opinion has credited Halle Bailey as the real stand-out star of the film, and this is deserved. She was magical. It’s a tall order, standing out among the colourful CGI Disney backgrounds but she did it. Consider Emma Watson’s wooden and droll performance as Belle in Beauty and the Beast.
Bailey by contrast matches the energy and expressiveness of her environment. She seems to have grasped what Watson did not—that she’s playing a fairy-tale character and this calls for a heightened style of acting, almost stage-like, with exaggerated expression and a strong contrast between movement and stillness. She can widen her eyes without moving the rest of her face and the effect is almost like watching an animated character—perfect for this film.
The supporting cast are mostly very good. Melissa McCarthy brings an unexpected charisma to the sea witch, Ursula. When she’s on screen she usually pulls out her old stunts from Bridesmaids, but in this film she shows great vocal range and comic timing. She goes for close imitation of the original Ursula, and for the most part succeeds. Javier Bardem as King Triton is genius casting. He’s good at everything— from merman to serial killer, he can do it all. His final scene with Ariel is a real tear-jerker, I’m slightly embarrassed to admit. After desperately fighting her attempts to join the human world, he finally gives her back her legs and lets her go. ‘Thank you for hearing me,’ she says.
At two hours and fifteen minutes the film does feel long but the ending makes up for it. There were downsides along the way though— Sebastian and Scuttle rapping, for example. The funny duo from the 1989 animated film are played here by rappers Awkwafina and Daveed Diggs, presumably chosen for their hip-hop credentials rather than their skills as voice actors. It really shows. Lin Manuel-Miranda produced The Little Mermaid, and he knew Daveed Diggs from Hamilton (who played Lafayette and Jefferson in the original production) so you can see how that casting happened. The rap Lin-Manuel wrote for Mermaid is a travesty—in fact all the songs Lin-Manuel contributed are painful. He’s overstretched himself. Considering how long it normally takes to make one film it’s little wonder, and he’s written music for seven Disney productions in the past eight years, and produced this one. He needs a hiatus, and so do we.
It is usually safe to say that Disney’s steady stream of live-action remakes has added nothing of value to the originals, but this film actually does in a number of subtle ways. The character of Ariel is given a couple moments of intrepid heroism and resourcefulness. It is she who drives the spear of the shipwreck’s prow into Ursula for example, dealing the giant sea witch the fatal blow and sending her down into the deep. It is also Ariel who exposes Ursula’s disguise, snatching the enchanted shell from her neck and shattering it, thereby reclaiming her own voice. The film also builds on Ariel and Eric’s relationship. They spend a good scene together in his study, poring over maps and charts, him showing her the far away coasts he’s explored and her unexpectedly showing him a few things too. Both united by a shared hunger for knowledge and adventure, they also have much to teach each other, and the final image of the film sees them embark on a new sea voyage together.
The best images of the film are of the sea—foaming waves, vibrant coral reefs, ghostly shipwrecks and a violent storm. When Ariel becomes a human she is caught and hauled in by a fisherman’s net, with kelp and crustaceans clinging to her, presenting a terrifying sight to the sailor who finds her. The filmmakers lean heavily on mermaid lore and old tales of the sea, and they weave these elements into the Disney story very well. By doing so they also set their film apart from the beloved animated classic. I may even watch this one again.
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