Hooked by Halle’s charm but tale could have been scaled back for children
THE LITTLE MERMAID Cert PG ★★★ In cinemas from Friday
Newcomer Halle Bailey makes a splash with a star-is-born performance in Disney’s new live action remake.
The 23-year-old brings charm and fearsome pipes to Ariel, a teenage mermaid who loses her voice, gains a pair of legs and has just three days to seduce a prince.
The set-up, from Hans Christian Andersen’s story, felt old-fashioned in Disney’s hit 1989 animation. In 2023, the idea of a girl winning a man by staying quiet and looking pretty sounds decidedly fishy.
Director Rob Marshall (Chicago) doesn’t cut much from the original, instead gently modernising it with extra characters, songs and plot threads.
The previously macho Prince Eric (Jonah HauerKing) is now a sensitive lad unsure of his place in the world. There’s also more to Ariel’s relationship with her strict dad, King Triton (Javier Bardem), who wants to keep his headstrong daughter safe.
At 135 minutes, this version is too long for a kids’ film but charismatic Bailey keeps us hooked. With her first showtune, Part of Your World, she reels us in with a refreshingly unshowy voice.
The director is in less restrained mood, transforming the opening shipwreck into a CGI spectacular with crashing waves, burning decks and a daring underwater rescue.
After dragging the dying prince to dry land, Ariel brings him back to life before disappearing beneath the waves. While the prince desperately searches for his beautiful saviour, love-struck Ariel falls prey to evil Ursula (Melissa McCarthy).
To be with him, Ariel strikes a deal with the witch to exchange her voice for feet. There’s a sizable catch, the mute Ariel will be forever cursed if she doesn’t enjoy “true love’s kiss” in the next three days.
During the courtship, returning composer Alan Menken gives Ariel new voice-over songs, although Bailey seems perfectly capable of expressing her inner feelings with her eyes.
New songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda will be a matter of taste. As will the three critters – Sebastian the crab (voiced by Daveed Diggs), Flounder the fish (Jacob Tremblay) and Scuttle the bird (Awkwafina) – who are now rendered in photorealistic CGI.
I missed Sebastian’s cutesy human expressions in the new version of Under the Sea. There’s something creepy about a real-looking crab who sings calypso.