The reviews have started pouring in for Disney’s live-action take on “The Little Mermaid”. The good news for the Mouse House is the new film is drawing the best reviews for these kinds of films since their live-action “Beauty and the Beast” back in 2017.
Rob Marshall helms the film about Ariel (Halle Bailey), a beautiful and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure. The youngest daughter of King Triton (Javier Bardem), and the most defiant, Ariel longs to find out more about the world beyond the sea, and while visiting the surface, falls for the dashing Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King).
While mermaids are forbidden to interact with humans, Ariel must follow her heart. She makes a deal with the evil sea witch, Ursula (Melissa McCarthy), which gives her a chance to experience life on land, but ultimately places her life – and her father’s crown – in jeopardy.
With 34 reviews counted, the film is currently charting at 69% (6.7/10) on Rotten Tomatoes with most of the praise swirling around Bailey’s lead performance Ariel. That score sits above “Lady and the Tramp” (66%), “Peter Pan and Wendy” (62%), “Aladdin” (57%), “The Lion King” (52%), “Dumbo” (45%) and “Pinocchio” (22%), and pretty close to “Mulan” (72%) and “Cruella” (75%).
Even so, it’s still well behind “The Jungle Book” (94%), “Pete’s Dragon” (88%) and “Cinderella” (83%). Here’s a sampling of reviews:
“While it has choppy waters at times, leading lady Halle Bailey, who is on her way to stardom, helps keep this classic together.” – Kathia Woods, The Playlist
“Halle Bailey is all the reason that any audience should need to justify Disney revisiting this classic.” – Peter DeBruge, Variety
“While not everything goes swimmingly, Halle Bailey splendidly buoys this “Mermaid” as the naive underwater youngster with dreams of exploring the surface.” – Brian Truitt, USA Today
“A star-making turn from newcomer Halle Bailey and some poignant subtext about fathers and daughters elevates this latest Disney live-action remake.” – Kevin Maher, Times
“Bailey is both the finished film’s only unmitigated triumph and the best argument for this whole live action remake enterprise in one shimmering mermaidcore package.” – Ellen E. Jones, The Guardian
“With Halle Bailey, life under the sea is better than anything Disney live-action has done in nearly a decade.” – Maureen Lee Lenker, EW
“As The Little Mermaid crawls by at a snail’s pace, the wondrous moments are weighed down by wasted opportunities for spectacle, emotion, and unapologetic bombast.” – Kristy Puchko, Mashable
“As the studio has done with other live-action remakes, Disney betrays its own lack of imagination and an essential misreading of what made its original children’s fare such a joy to audiences in the first place.” – Angelica Jade Bastien, Vulture
“For now, “The Little Mermaid” exists outside of the very world it so wants to be a part of, one already so lovingly rendered in its predecessor, “real” or not.” – Kate Erbland, Indiewire
“Its most iconic moments are borrowed and copied wholesale, serving as little more than a reminder of simpler days watching clamshell VHS tapes released from the Disney Vault. Maybe that’s enough for some people. But maybe, like Ariel, we should want more.” – Leigh Morrison, AV Club
The cast also includes Flounder voiced by Jacob Tremblay, Sebastian by Daveed Diggs, Scuttle by Awkwafina and the likes of Noma Dumezweni, Art Malik, Lorena Andrea, Simone Ashley, Kajsa Mohammar, Nathalie Sorrell, Karolina Conchet, Sienna King in supporting roles.
“The Little Mermaid” opens in cinemas everywhere this Friday.
