The Little Mermaid

Disney has had a tendency of remaking their beloved classics these past few years and I haven't been a fan of that. Thankfully, some of these remakes turn out to be great which was the case here. The Little Mermaid follows Ariel who's a beautiful and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure. Ariel longs to find out more about the world beyond the sea and, while visiting the surface, falls for the dashing Prince Eric. While mermaids are forbidden to interact with humans, Ariel must follow her heart. 

Let's start with the good thing first. First and foremost, I am happy to say that the Disney magic that we all knew is back! What made the other remakes so lifeless and bad was the lack of this magic whether it was the storytelling or the characters themselves. I was sucked back into this world and made me realize how much we needed that from a Disney movie. Secondly, since this is a remake some story beats tend to change slightly or have new storylines which was the case here. While I appreciate the effort, I think that the film was bloated and too long for its own good which brings me to my biggest issue: The runtime!! Clocking at 120 minutes the movie definitely feels long and boring at times which took away from some of my enjoyment. 30 minutes could have been easily cut and would have ultimately made a better movie. Speaking of the negative points, I want to mention the mediocre CGI and underwater scenes. I partially hated the CGI here due to it being given no care. Moreover, the lack of detail in the underwater scenes as well as some of the character designs had me roll my eyes! I just couldn't believe the underwater scenes which play a vital and major role in a movie like The Little Mermaid. 

On the bright side of things here, I absolutely enjoyed the performances here. Halle Bailey was magical as Ariel and stole the show with her magnificent voice whenever she was on screen. Javier Bardem absolutely rocked it as King Triton. Jonah Hauer-King was great but Melissa McCarthy absolutely stole the show with her evil performance. I especially loved her design and her musical sequences. Speaking of musical sequences, I was not a fan of the new songs at all. I particularly think that the Scuttle Wrap's intention was to damage your hearing with Awkwafina's performance. I seriously think that Awkwafina ruins every film she's in with her cringe performance and annoying voice. Despite the issues, I would still absolutely recommend checking out The Little Mermaid in theaters if you're craving some Disney magic or watching a fun yet forgettable Disney live-action remake.