The Stream: Underwater scenes are very dark and hard to see any details.

The Big Screen: Halle Bailey gives a charming performance with her beautiful voice.

The Final Bill: A decent live-action remake buoyed by a wonderful performance by Halle Bailey.

– Trip Fontaine
Director: Rob Marshall
Writers: David Magee
Stars: Halle Bailey, Jonah Hauer-King, Melissa McCarthy, Javier Bardem, Noma Dumezweni, Daveed Diggs, Jacob Tremblay, Awkwafina
Genre: Family, Romance, Fantasy, Musical
Rating: PG for action/peril and some scary images
Runtime: 2 hours 4 minutes
Production Companies: Walt Disney Pictures, Lucamar Productions, Marc Platt Productions
Platform: In theaters on May 26, 2023
Notable Trailers: Barbie, Elemental, The Color Purple

Hey, Streamers! It’s the official beginning of the summer movie season, which means a blockbuster must be in the theaters. This weekend the live-action remake of the Disney classic, The Little Mermaid, has been released. These remakes seem very unnecessary, especially since most of them are just carbon copies of the original animated movie. It will be interesting to see if this remake is any better than the previous ones like Aladdin, Mulan and The Lion King. Here’s whether you should make The Little Mermaid (2023) part of your world.

Yes, The Little Mermaid (2023) tells the same story as the animated original. Ariel, played by Halle Bailey, is the rebellious, youngest daughter of the King Triton, played by Javier Bardem. Ariel is obsessed with all things humans and the mystery of life on land. On one fateful night, she rescues a handsome prince, Eric (Jonah Hauer-King), from a shipwreck. Ariel and Eric fall so hard for each other in this brief interaction that Ariel is willing to give up life underwater and Eric will stop at nothing to find the woman who saved and sang to him. There’s Ursula, the sea witch, played by Melissa McCarthy, to stir up trouble; and, Ariel has the support of her sea-friends, Scuttle, Sebastian, and Flounder. Under sea and girl kissing hijinks ensue.

Rob Marshall directs this mash-up of live-action and heavy-CGI remake. All of the technical things are done very poorly. This movie does not translate very well from animation to live-action. The visual effects under water are not appealing and not believable. Everything looks hazy or murky. The worst part is that a lot of the underwater scenes are too dark to see any detail. In fact, it was very difficult to tell what was happening at all, especially in Ursula’s layer. I almost gave up on watching those parts. The lighting and scenery didn’t get any better on land. It all looked very washed out and not vibrant like this exuberant Disney movie should be.

The best part of this movie is easily Halle Bailey. She has such a charming presence, and she brightens up the screen. She is very watchable and engaging. Bailey has a beautiful voice and puts a special spin on the songs we know. The producers are very lucky to have cast this wonderful young actress and singer. The fact that the romance between Ariel and Eric has any spark is squarely due to Bailey as Eric is a drip and the script is not great.

I’ll note that Melissa McCarthy and Daveed Diggs, who plays Sebastian, are the only other characters that register at all. They both seem to be having some fun with their roles. I know “Poor Unfortunate Souls” is a popular villain song, which I don’t particularly like, but McCarthy goes for it and makes a meal out of the song. Diggs has an unnecessary Caribbean accent, but it’s fun nonetheless.

Ultimately, it’s The Little Mermaid. Do you remember the animated version? Well, this movie is that except with some recognizable faces with CGI-ed bodies. It’s fine. It tells the same story, but it has an ace in Halley Bailey. Unfortunately, the visual effects of the underwater sequences are so bad, dark and hard to see that it makes the movie difficult to enjoy. That’s a shame. I’ll suggest a matinee at best until it hits Disney+. Just a bowl of popcorn for now.