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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.

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