The trailer for the live-action remake of Disney’s The Little Mermaid didn’t do much for me. It simply looked okay. There’s a chance I’d have felt differently had the 1992 animated version been a favourite of mine.

Having now seen the remake, which stars Halle Bailey, Melissa McCarthy and Javier Bardem, there are two things I most enjoyed while watching director Rob Marshall’s take. The first is Bailey’s arresting rendition of the film’s main song, ‘Part of that World’. I loved it so much that as soon as I got home after the event, I searched and found a video of Bailey singing it live, which I then listened to several times a week for the following month.

The second most pleasant memory of Marshall’s film has to be the colourful audio-visual feast that is the scene where Sebastian the crab sings the song ‘Under the Sea’. The colourful special effects and beautiful choreography worked together perfectly, making said scene my absolute favourite in the entire film. Now I can’t wait to replay it once it’s available on Disney+.

It’s likely that you’ve heard something about the issues with Marshall’s movie. The main one is the incomplete visual effects, especially in a scene where Bailey’s likeness is missing from the animated mermaid body. Such an obvious error is certainly not something I’d have expected from Disney.

My second issue is how unfortunately immobile McCarthy’s upper face seemed to be during her scenes. Ursula is far too delightfully dramatic and fantastic a character for the full face not to be engaged while portraying her. 

The last two unfortunate occurrences are about the music. I did not enjoy Prince Eric’s singing. I also was not a fan of Scuttle the Seagull’s rather unpleasant rendition of something towards the end. 

Considering all the issues above, of course, The Little Mermaid has not unseated Cinderella (2015) as my favourite Disney live-action film. Yet, I say, give it a chance in the comfort of your own home. It may just be worth it for the aforementioned best bits. 

Happy Film Loving

G