The Little Mermaid

by Tyler Glover

Photo: Disney

Director: Rob Marshall
Starring: Halle Bailey, Melissa McCarthy & Jonah Hauer-King
Rated: PG
Runtime: 2 hours & 15 minutes

​Back in 2010, Disney experienced enormous box office success with their live-action adaptation of “Alice In Wonderland.” This started a quick rush to get all of their animated features a live-action adaptation as soon as possible. Title after title kept getting announced and released.

“Maleficent,” “Cinderella,” “The Jungle Book,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Dumbo,” “Aladdin,” “The Lion King,” “Mulan,” “Cruella,” “Pinocchio,” and “Peter and Wendy” all have come and gone. I have always been a huge fan of all things Disney so I was really excited about all of these announcements. With every one of them though, I was always thinking, “I cannot wait for them to do “The Little Mermaid.” It was the main one I want them to do.

This is coming from a boy who watched “The Little Mermaid” over and over again as a child. I sat on big rocks in the woods pretending I had a mermaid tail and singing “Part of Your World.” I had an Ariel Barbie doll. I sang the songs no matter where we were at or going. So needless to say, this is the ULTIMATE Disney live-action adaptation for me!

Was it worth it all?

The answer is 100 percent YES.

For those who don’t know, “The Little Mermaid” follows Ariel (Halle Bailey) who is a teenage mermaid longing to be a part of the human world. She has a romantic interest in Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) but her father, King Triton (Javier Bardem) forbids her from going to the surface. Ariel ends up making a deal with the sea witch, Ursula (Melissa McCarthy) to get legs for three days. However, she has to give up her voice and get a kiss from the Prince within three days in order to remain human. Ariel gets help from her friends: a crab named Sebastian (voiced by Daveed Diggs), a fish named Flounder (voiced by Jacob Tremblay) and a seagull named Scuttle (voiced by Awkwafina).  
 
This film is directed by Rob Marshall, who is one of my favorite directors. His past work includes “Chicago,” “Into The Woods” and “Mary Poppins Returns.” These spectacular films prove that Marshall knows what he is doing when it comes to directing movie musicals. “The Little Mermaid” sees Marshall at the top of his game once again.

The best thing about “The Little Mermaid” is Bailey’s performance as Ariel. She portrays the curiosity, joy and beauty of the character to perfection. Every time she is on-screen, you are drawn to her. Any person doubting her just needs to watch her sing “Part of Your World” in the film. It was the kind of powerhouse performance you see in a cinema that I felt like I should be giving a standing ovation for. I honestly cannot wait to see what Bailey does next.

Another standout performance was McCarthy’s performance as Ursula. She was perfectly cast. It always felt like she was a good fit for the role except for maybe the singing. However, McCarthy gives a spectacular rendition of “Poor Unfortunate Souls.” McCarthy is deliciously evil and even scared my daughters in the movie theater. She definitely delivered a campy and at times, hysterically over-the-top (in all the best ways) performance.

The film is so visually appealing. The beautiful fish and the underwater scenes are so well done. My only complaint about the setting was that in some of the underwater scenes, the lighting was very dim. At times, it was difficult to fully see everything. 
 
Other than that, the only issue I had with the film was the pacing at the beginning. It seemed to rush through the first few scenes like it just wanted to get the story going before it slows down. Also, the film makes a great decision to make King Triton and Ursula brother and sister. This is an interesting concept but it feels like it is just mentioned as an afterthought when it could have given us some insight into their brother/sister dynamic.
 
These minor issues do not stop “The Little Mermaid” from being the best Disney live-action adaptation to date. Bailey and McCarthy lead an almost near-perfect cast in telling one of the best stories Disney has ever told.