The Little Mermaid is the latest of Disney's live-action remakes of classic films. The Little Mermaid, as you may guess, is a remake of the 1989 film, The Little Mermaid which follows a mermaid who wishes to become human to see what life is like above the water.

I am not entirely sure why Disney keeps choosing to do these live-action remakes and what the purpose behind them is. Some of the remakes have turned out better than others but none seem to avoid the controversy around recreating classic films. Fortunately, after watching this movie today, The Little Mermaid may be able to avoid much of this controversy.

One of the most important aspects as to whether these remakes succeed is the casting. I think that the casting of The Little Mermaid was spot-on. Towards the start of the movie, I was thinking that Halle Bailey wasn't the best choice to play Ariel. However, as the movie progressed, her acting grew on me and by the end of the movie thought that she was the perfect decision. I thought that Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric was similarly good in his role and the chemistry between these two characters was very applaudable. Those whose voices were used such as Daveed Diggs, Awkwafina and Jacob Tremblay as Sebastian, Scuttle and Flounder were the perfect addition to the cast.

One of the most difficult parts of doing a live-action remake is recreating the classic Disney magic that is seen in the original films. This can be hard to achieve without a heavy reliance on CGI with some Disney remakes doing better than others. There was a lot of CGI used in the earlier parts of the film; the parts that were entirely under the sea (see what I did there?) and needed CGI to create the underwater elements. This produced mixed results. I found all the sea creatures to be realistic enough for a fantasy Disney film. However, the half-real and half-CGI mermaids were difficult to watch at times. The moments that were shot in partial darkness managed to conceal the abrasiveness of the CGI, however, the lighter moments interrupted the flow of the movie and it was hard for the human eye to keep up. It was almost like there needed to be a collaboration with James Cameron to achieve the best outcome.

The film relied on less and less CGI as it progressed which is maybe what helped me enjoy the movie more in the latter parts. These later parts involved fewer mermaids and had more on-land action. The characters of Sebastian, Scuttle and Flounder were still present but these characters' CGI was never interruptive in the first place. I thought that the creation of the character of Ursala had a positive outcome, however, many of her scenes were shot in darker locations which aided in her realism.

The final big tick or big cross for a Disney remake (or any musical remake) is whether they ruin the original songs. In previous reviews, I have spoken a lot about the shift towards electronic-sounding music in remakes of Disney films or film adaptations of stage musicals. The musical arrangements of The Little Mermaid songs were different and added something new to the originals, however, stayed true to the original feeling and did not transfer to the electronic scene. The new songs also progressed the story and did not feel like they were being put in for the sake of adding new songs. On the other hand, these movies can't help themselves when it comes to auto-tune.

I'd say that The Little Mermaid is one of the better live-action remakes. The three elements that can cause a remake to either sink or swim (I'm full of good puns today) mostly got ticks. Casting: tick. Songs: tick. Recreating that Disney magic: partial tick. I'd suggest checking out this Disney remake; it mostly has things going for it.

Director: Rob Marshall

Starring: Halle Bailey, Jonah Hauer-King, Melissa McCarthy

Year released: 2023

My rating: 7.75/10

Review by Tristan Carr

Last edited: 16/07/2023