The 1989 animated original “The Little Mermaid” escorted
a new golden era of Disney’s celebrated animation legacy. A clean version of
Hans Christian Andersen’s classic tale about a young mermaid who wants to be
human and how far she’ll go for that dream, the film had top-notch animation
(for the time) production and the musical composing of the great contemporary
composer Alan Menken. With a runtime of 83 minutes, the film quickly and
lovingly introduced a fairy tale story that would pioneer several princesses
for Disney, “The Little Mermaid” quickly followed by Beauty and the Beast,
Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules,
Mulan, and Tarzan. Four of those films have since been adapted into live-action
versions, and this year, “The Little Mermaid” is the fifth to get the
live-action remake.
While Rob Marshall’s version of “The Little Mermaid” (written
by David Magee) tries to make some modern steps in its casting and storyline,
the film – like its predecessors – offers nothing whatsoever for a reason to
exist at all. Lisa Trifone said in her review, “This version clocks in at a
mind-boggling 2 hours and 15 minutes, and while it makes every effort to appear
sweeping in scope with colorful styling and clever underwater graphics, the
film instead plays like a budget version of the animated classic, offering none
of its magic, grandeur or charm.” Ariel, played by newcomer and not well Halle
Bailey, lives in an underwater kingdom we never really see. Prince Eric, played
by Jonah Hauer-King, is an adopted royal on an island that looks brighter than the
underwater realm. Trifone noted, “The film’s efforts to transform the mermaid’s
desire into a search for independence defangs the story—Andersen’s or
Disney’s—of its stakes, however low they were to begin with.”
Much of what’s familiar from the original is left in
Marshall’s remake, from Prince Eric’s shipwreck to Ariel’s collection of human
trinkets she doesn’t know how to use. Flounder (Jacob Tremblay), Sebastian
(Daveed Diggs), and Scuttle (Awkwafina) are right by her side, and King Triton
(Javier Bardem) and Ursula (Melissa McCarthy) are annoying adult influences who
don’t always have her best interests in mind. Ariel wants to experience life on
land, but her father rejects her every time (there’s a backstory about her
mother’s death at human hands that’s never really explained). When Prince Eric’s
ship crashes during a storm, Ariel saves him from the sea only to disappear in
a cloud when he wakes up on the shore.
Trifone said, “From there, Marshall and Magee overfill
this otherwise straightforward fable with so much extraneous plot the whole
thing becomes more bloated than a blowfish.” McCarthy gets the shortest end of
the stick, having to spend her entire first scene explaining to everyone why
she’s livid at her mean big brother King Triton, and what she’s going to do
about it, using Ariel as her pawn. Trifone said, “I suppose it’s worthwhile to
get a glimpse of a villain’s motivation for their nastiness, but this all seems
to take the concept a step (or four) too far—the scene is saved only by the way
McCarthy absolutely revels in Ursula’s oversized personality.” Once Ariels
makes her bad deal with the Sea Witch and finds herself on land, we see a
little more in the life of royalty, but these extra scenes – mainly a crazy carriage
ride and a strange walk through a market that turns into a poor excuse for an
ensemble dance number – feel more like filler than fun.
Trifone noted, “Similar to the issues the team behind
the “live action” adaptation of The Lion King confronted when adapting that
creature-driven family drama, The Little Mermaid suffers from a lack of
imagination in how to bring all three dimensions into Ariel’s world.
Underwater, Bailey’s hair swishes this and and that, and she awkwardly fins
herself through the seaweed in her mermaid get-up, but the world is small and
claustrophobic; all we ever really see is her cave of things and King Triton’s
throne room. Above ground, the sets look more like something from a Disney
parks experience, fake and flat, and the film’s pivotal final scenes, with a
powerful Ursula who’s desperate to keep Ariel from happily-ever-after, never
achieves the towering heights of intensity intended.”
Those familiar with (and limited to) the 1989 original
will recognize so much in “The Little Mermaid,” most notably Menken’s charming
songs that, even here, remain warm and welcome (Trifone admitted, “though don’t
get me started on whatever it is the filmmakers are trying to do with sea
urchins dancing during “Under the Sea”)”. Those only meeting Ariel, Eric,
Ursula, and everyone else through this new adaptation might leave feeling
entertained to some point, but the final product is an empty shell of what both
Andersen wanted and Disney is capable of. Trifone said, “In theory, this trend
of adapting these classics for a new audience with new technology and a
contemporary narrative eye is a worthy—and even promising—endeavor.” However,
as of yet (with the possible exception of 2016’s “The Jungle Book”), no one
given this task has completed it successfully.
This is nowhere one of the worst Disney Live-Action
Remakes, but it is borderline to being decent. The look of the film is nice,
except for when it gets dark, and maybe there are some chuckles here and there,
but overall, the songs that were redone were poor, the new songs didn’t do it
for me, the added scenes felt like it was there to have the film run long, and
it just didn’t feel like a faithful adaptation/remake. It made me want to watch
the original again, and I guarantee a lot of people will have the same feeling
after watching this. The movie didn't need to be as long as it was. They could have easily made this a half-hour shorter. Just do yourself a favor and don’t waste your time
watching this remake. Like a good majority of Disney Live-Action remakes, this
one is just not worth seeing.
Thank you for joining in on my review tonight. Stay
tuned this Friday for the continuation of “Morgan Freeman Month.”
No comments:
Post a Comment