Youngest daughter of King Triton, who reigns at the bottom of the sea, Ariel is not like her sisters. Indeed, rather than being interested in the depths, the young mermaid thinks only of humans and a certain Prince Eric. Angry, his father tells him to stay under the surface. Which suits the Machiavellian Ursula, once banished by King Triton. And here she is making a dupe deal with Ariel, who can be human for three days. Adaptation in live action, with special effects, of the Disney animated classic, The Little Mermaid (The little Mermaid) emerges after a four-year production run.
Very freely inspired by the tale of Hans Christian Andersen, the sentimental story is also intended to be initiatory. In that Ariel is immediately presented as being drawn to the terrestrial world rather than the underwater, where she has a predestined place which she does not want. Ariel’s freedom (Eric too wants to emancipate himself, from royal confinement in his case) and the importance of her dreams feature more prominently and more explicitly than in said 1989 animated version.
In the title role, Halle Bailey is perfect with irrepressible passion. In the naive princess of the ocean, the actress and singer instills a perceptible strength of character at all times. Ah and, in terms of the voice, the young star convinces from the first number, Part of Your World.
We talked about the naivety of Ariel: this is obviously essential to the story since without her, no pact with Ursula, and no stay on dry land. Thus Ariel has three days at the end of which, if Eric and she exchange a kiss, she can remain human forever. Boredom? Ursula momentarily deprived her of her voice.
And this is where it gets stuck. Because on the one hand, the film aims to be modern in highlighting the protagonist’s quest for self and in the laudable concern for diversity in terms of the cast, but on the other hand, it condemns its heroine to silence for a good part of the story (we hear here and there his thoughts, but little).
Of course, that too is inherent in said story, and we know that Ariel will recover her voice. However, the reality is that in the meantime, we end up with a whole bunch of scenes where Ariel listens, blissfully, an Eric who talks, talks, and talks again. Or: “be beautiful and shut up”, literally. In 2023? Even if it means modernizing, why limit yourself in this way?
Especially since in the role of the prince, Jonah Hauer-King has neither the presence nor the vocal power of his partner Halle Bailey. In this regard, in addition to revealing herself to be unsurprisingly tasty as sprawling Ursula, Melissa McCarthy amazes during her number Poor Unfortunate Souls. We would gladly see the star of Spy(Spy) play the villains more often as she is impressive in the role.
Impressive, the invoice of the film is also it.
A fish in the water
It must be said that obviously, Disney has assigned director Rob Marshall a substantial budget. Rob Marshall who, apart from his expertise in musical films after Chicago, Into the Woods (In the woods) And Mary Poppins Returns (Mary Poppins Returns), was already familiar with mermaids from Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (Pirates of the Caribbean — The Fountain of Youth). Hence the success of the scenes of ships caught in the storm.
It will be understood, Marshall is here like a fish in water. More so than Ariel who, by choosing an earthly existence, must completely renounce life under water. She is the one who sacrifices everything. In 1984, in splashthe man (Tom Hanks) was the one who, in the end, joined the mermaid (Daryl Hannah) in her underwater kingdom: that’s good to say.
Brief, The Little Mermaid is a continuation of previous adaptations of Disney’s animated catalog, such as the luxurious Cinderella (Cinderella) and the opulent Beauty and the Beast (The beauty and the Beast): the film entertains, makes you smile, sometimes moves, but displays a feminism that is more cosmetic than anything else. This, unlike true proofreading, such as Maleficent (Maleficent) And cruella, from the same studio. A blockbuster to be taken for what it is, therefore, and not for what it claims to be.