The Little Mermaid (PG)

Headstrong mermaid Ariel is obsessed with humankind, secretly collecting discarded "thingamabobs" in direct violation of orders from her father King Triton. During a violent storm, a ship commanded by Prince Eric runs aground and Ariel rescues him from a watery grave. Restored to full health, Eric vows to find his siren-songed saviour. Meanwhile, scheming sea witch Ursula offers to transform Ariel into human form for three days so she can secure true love's kiss.

LondonNet Film Review

The Little Mermaid (PG) Film Review from LondonNet

In 1989, the release of The Little Mermaid directed by Ron Clements and John Musker awoke Walt Disney Animation Studios from a prolonged creative slumber, fashioning a robust template for crowd-pleasing fare that is affectionately referred to as the Disney Renaissance. Subsequent films from this golden age, distinguished by the infectious songbooks of composer Alan Menken and lyricists Howard Ashman, Sir Tim Rice and Stephen Schwartz, have been granted live action or photorealistic animated makeovers in recent years including Beauty And The Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King…

Disney’s 28th animated feature film, torn from the pages of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, now gets the razzle-dazzling treatment with Oscar-nominated Chicago director Rob Marshall at the helm. This Little Mermaid causes a big splash in expertly choreographed musical sequences including Daveed Diggs’ showstopping renditions of Under The Sea and Kiss The Girl as ebullient red crab Sebastian, Halle Bailey’s heart-tugging belt of Part Of Your World as Ariel and Melissa McCarthy’s deliciously vampy glide through Poor Unfortunate Souls as Ursula.

When Marshall allows a tsunami of digital effects to drown his human cast, his film threatens to capsize, most notably in a sloppy, water-logged finale that includes a close-up of Bailey in mermaid form that bears scant resemblance to the exquisite creature from earlier aquatic sequences. Thankfully, he deploys the emergency life raft of an unabashedly sentimental coda. Adapted for the screen by scriptwriter David Magee, the story remains faithful to the animated edition with headstrong mermaid Ariel (Bailey) obsessed with humankind, secretly collecting discarded “thingamabobs” in direct violation of orders from her father King Triton (Javier Bardem).

Wisecracking seagull Scuttle (voiced by Awkwafina), a self-proclaimed expert on these trinkets, advises Ariel on their practical uses above the waves. During a violent storm, a ship commanded by Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) runs aground and Ariel rescues him from a watery grave. Restored to full health to the relief of his mother Queen Selina (Noma Dumezweni) and adviser Sir Grimsby (Art Malik), Eric vows to find his siren-songed savour. Meanwhile, scheming sea witch Ursula (McCarthy) offers to transform Ariel into human form for three days so she can secure true love’s kiss within the timeframe or return to the sea as the witch’s prized possession.

The Little Mermaid is buoyed by thingamabobs that made the original film so memorable including exuberant characters, a lip-smacking villainess and the irresistible Menken-Ashman songbook. Bailey is a sweetly sincere heroine and McCarthy deserves huge credit for swimming comfortably in the slipstream of Pat Carroll’s thunderous and spellbinding embodiment of a multi-tentacled menace. Three new ditties courtesy of composer Menken and lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda, For The First Time, Wild Uncharted Waters, and Scuttlebutt, were written especially for the remake and feel diluted next to the exuberance of original works. That sandbar was simply too high.

– Jo Planter