The Little Mermaid (2023)

Release Date: May 26, 2023

Watch Date: November 30, 2024

“‘The Little Mermaid’ reimagines the beloved story of Ariel, a curious mermaid who longs to experience life on land and, against her father’s wishes, visits the surface. Ariel finds herself on an unexpected journey of self-discovery as she encounters a prince, a sea witch, and an incredible new world.”

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   I know this review is coming late, I know. I completely forgot to write about it. Because I would kind of prefer to forget this movie generally. But each film gets it day in the sun, so I finally found time to get around to it.

   The Little Mermaid, from 1989, was a good movie. Sure, it had it’s faults. All movies do. But it was a good, classic movie. It did not need to be remade. And just like every other Disney Live Action Remake, it feels an unnecessary cash grab, it has none of the heart of the original, and simply didn’t need to be done. Those funds could have been used on creating an original idea. But what do I know? I’m just an anonymous blogger and not a CEO who wants billions of dollars in my pocket.

   The CGI is bad. I don’t like how Flounder looks, or Sebastian, or any of the mermaids. It’s better when we get on land. I don’t like the new songs. Okay, to be fair, I don’t like Eric’s song. It’s a bad song. I like Scuttle’s song, which might be the only interpretation of this film that I don’t have a problem with – other than I guess Ursula? I don’t like how the songs sound in their new compositions. I don’t like Sebastian’s voice – and I love Sebastian’s voice actor so that’s a hard pill to swallow.

   Ursula is cool. I think they did a good job of capturing her. They didn’t mess with her song. They didn’t mess with her vibe. She had the right amount of camp.

   I don’t know, I’m trying to think of things I liked because I feel like if you didn’t like this movie, people are going to assume it’s because of the race of the actress playing Ariel? And that’s not it. She did a good job with what she was given. I could care less what Ariel looks like. What I care about is the heart that’s put into the film, a film and a character that defined many women’s childhoods.

   This movie exists.

   Congrats.

   I would never watch it over the original.