The Little Mermaid (2023)

The Little Mermaid is the live-action remake and reimagining of the Disney classic.

There is a massive elephant in the room in this film as it race-swaps the mermaid Ariel. Race swapping doesn't automatically make it bad. It's Halle Bailey's performance that she has to bring to make it good. Halle Bailey's performance reminds me a lot of Bella from Twilight. She's wooden and boring to watch. She knows how to smile but that's her range, blank stares and occasional smiles.

One of the worst examples of agenda narrative was the inclusion of Noma Dumezweni who oozes contempt for Jonah Hauer-King's Eric in each scene she's in. There is even a directorial choice about where people are sitting that sends a message to the adult audience that the children won't notice. Also, Art Malik, remember the villain from True Lies, yeah now he's the good guy's mentor. Weird casting choice but his acting wasn't horrible.

I wish they had gotten someone better for Eric. Jonah really hasn't done anything worth seeing and perhaps his casting was intentional so that he doesn't outshine Halle Bailey because next to her, he looks worthless.

Javier Bardem shines in almost everything he does and this film is no exception. He is able to emote when Bailey doesn't. Melissa McCarthy was better than I expected. She actually attempted to do a good performance. I suppose when she doesn't try to be funny she can actually act.

The writing really takes a long time to get to plot points. David Magee has been working with Disney before with Mary Poppins Returns. You'd think he understands pacing but perhaps it was an editing choice to have so much fluff and little substance in an adaptation that should have been par for the course.

The end product wasn't as bad as people told me it would be. The CGI can be pretty bad at times but that's expected with the mass exodus from Disney over the past few years. The film is still better than this year's Shazam! Result: C.

Comments

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026)

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is directed by Aaron Horvath , Michael Jelenic , and Pierre Leduc , with a script by Matthew Fogel , who also worked on The Super Mario Bros. Movie . This sequel brings back the core cast while expanding the universe significantly, pulling in fan-favorite characters like Fox McCloud , Rosalina , Bowser Jr. , and Yoshi . The film leans heavily into spectacle, bouncing rapidly from one set piece to another. It often feels like a chain of “and then” moments, stitched together with references to the games rather than a tightly constructed narrative. Chris Pratt , known for Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World , returns as Mario and delivers a similar performance to the first film. He remains serviceable in the role, but the script doesn’t give him much room to grow this time around. Mario feels more like a vehicle to move the audience through the different worlds rather than a character with a meaningful arc. Anya Taylor-Joy , known for The Queen’s Ga...

Whistle (2026)

Whistle (2026) plays less like a finished horror film and more like a theater kid’s passion project that somehow made it to the screen. The script tries to build emotional investment in the main character but never succeeds, and the horror elements are almost nonexistent. The scares simply are not there, leaving the film feeling hollow for a genre that depends heavily on tension and payoff. The screenplay comes from Owen Egerton , whose work here feels more like a personal self insert than a fully realized character. The protagonist, played by Dafne Keen , comes across almost like a gender swapped version of the writer himself. Keen, known for Logan and His Dark Materials , tries to bring intensity to the role but the material gives her very little to work with. The direction from Corin Hardy , who previously directed The Nun , feels restrained by the script. It is hard not to feel a bit bad for him because there is only so much a director can do when the writing does not provi...

Civil War (2024)

Civil War is a journey across the eastern United States during a hypothetical civil war. Alex Garland wrote and directed the film. I was worried there would be too much of a political message in the film but really the message was so muted and delved into the story of Lee and Jessie. There are undertones of who is right and who is wrong in Garland's opinion but I was glad he kept it from being the story. It seems he's learned his lesson from his 2022 film Men. I'm glad to see him branching out from science fiction but Ex Machina and Annihilation were his best movies. Kirsten Dunst plays Lee the main character and the manifestation of jaded experience. She's seen war, suffering, and horrible things. She wants to protect Jessie just because of how polar opposite Jessie is as the manifestation of innocence. The makeup even shows how dead Lee looks in the eyes with the first close-up. You'll remember her as MJ from Spider-Man . Cailee Spaeny plays Jessie and despite...

Movies, Film, and Chili

Search This Blog