‘The Little Mermaid’
Address Rob Marshall
interpreters Halle Bailey, Melissa McCarthy, Javier Bardem
premiere 26 May 2023
★★★
The Little Mermaid arrives as a live-action reimagining built on a beloved animated foundation, inviting a modern audience to see a familiar oceanic world through new eyes. The film leans into the core imagery of mermaids, princes, and the sunlit seabed while expanding the cast and the visuals to create a stage for contemporary storytelling. Melissa McCarthy steps into the role of the formidable sea witch Ursula, delivering a performance that blends wicked humor with a glossy, larger‑than‑life presence. Javier Bardem embodies King Triton with a ceremonial gravitas, giving the royal undersea realm a sense of lineage and authority. Halle Bailey, as Ariel, brings a clear voice, a spirited youthfulness, and a sense of longing that anchors the emotional beats of the story. The overall tone marries whimsy with buoyant spectacle, and the practical and CGI effects work together to render underwater vistas that shimmer with color and energy.
Directed by Rob Marshall, a filmmaker familiar with return trips to classic narratives, the adaptation keeps a friendly, accessible rhythm while inviting viewers to notice the texture and design choices that mark it as a modern production. The underwater sequences, in particular, sparkle with a sense of movement and play that echoes the story’s adventurous spirit. The sequences outside the sea—on land and aboard ships—offer grand sets and costumes that feel crafted for a contemporary audience, balancing nostalgia with fresh visual ideas. The human world is portrayed with a hint of fairytale polish, inviting audiences to share in Ariel’s curiosity and her audacious exploration of a realm beyond her own.
Where the film earns affection and momentum, it also faces a few missteps. The opening stretches can feel a touch tentative, and at times the pacing lingers a moment longer than necessary, which dampens some of the more spectacular passages that fans expect. The tone occasionally leans toward a dance-like rhythm, and a few scenes do not land with the exact wow factor that once marked the most memorable moments of the original. Some sequences, especially those relying on waterborne magic and the showpiece confrontations, fall short of matching the high bar set by pure fantasy spectacle. Even so, the luminous design surrounding the world beneath the waves—replete with glittering tentacles for Ursula and a cavernous, jewel-bright reef world—helps sustain interest and mood through long stretches.
One area of mixed impressions is the rendition of the broader water world. While the production aims to radiate with life and color, there are moments when the craftsmanship reads more brass than stone, a comment on the way scale and texture are balanced in a modern remake. Still, the character work—Ariel’s curiosity, Ursula’s theatrical menace, Triton’s solemn guardianship—offers a stable anchor amid the film’s more expansive set pieces. The film also invites viewers to consider how a classic tale can be reshaped to emphasize courage, autonomy, and a sense of belonging, without discarding the enchantment that drew audiences to the original.