Thursday, May 25, 2023
The Little Mermaid
It’s a rebellious teenager/over-protective father/love at first sight/sell your soul to the devil live-action remake of the 1989 animated musical fantasy. The film follows the original Disney blueprint but expands on the surface world & the human interactions. This extends the runtime to 135 minutes & seems to be more geared to the kid fans who have now grown up to be young adults. Halle Bailey is excellent as Ariel. She has a great singing voice & is a fine actor. Apparently, she was the first to be auditioned for the part & set the bar so high. The underwater scenes & the land scenes (Sardinia, Italy) are spectacular. The under the sea scenes look convincing real although you know they weren’t shot underwater. If seeing is believing, the CGI may make you believe in mermaids. I️ loved little tweaks & additions. Ariel’s sisters get slightly more screen thing & some names changes. Melissa McCarthy does a marvelous interpretation of Ursula, the Sea Witch. Javier Bardem plays King Triton. Awafina kills it as Scuttle (now a diving bird) & sings a funny rap song. You will hear many of your favorite tunes from the original plus some new songs. The film demonstrates diversity; for after all, Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tale is about an inter-species love story relationship.
Alien gives it 4 “kiss the girl” stars out of 4.
