Rob Marshall (Chicago, Mary Poppins Returns) has become the ‘go to’ director for movie musical adaptations, and he does a solid job with the live action version of the animated classic, The Little Mermaid.
Eric (Jonah Hauer-King), the seafaring son of a local queen, yearns for adventure and discovery when his ship sinks, and he is saved by a mermaid named Ariel (Halle Bailey) who becomes enamored with him much to the disapproval of her father, King Triton (Javier Bardem), who rules the undersea kingdom. When Triton’s jealous relative, Ursula (Melissa McCarthy), offers Ariel a proposition to be with Eric, it comes with an enormous price and threatens to upend both the surface and undersea worlds.
Bailey, a delight, is impressive as the title character and possesses a remarkable singing voice while McCarthy is perfectly cast in a juicy, villainess role as the scheming Ursula. The diverse cast is enhanced by computer generated, talking sea creatures like Sebastian, Flounder, and Scuttle who are endearing, funny, and wonderfully realized. (Please give these critters their own movie.)
This
won’t supplant the original animated classic and could have benefitted from a
leaner running time than its 135 minutes. The film works with a broad canvas of
a colorful, lavish production enhanced by underwater visual effects (which
nearly overwhelm the climax). With
additional, new songs, it inherits the previous film’s proven score and most of
its songs including an impressive version of the classic, Under the Sea, all of which are well integrated into the narrative,
never feeling forced.
There
is a lot to like here as it is engaging throughout. (It would also be
interesting to see Marshall do an original, animated musical.) Bigger is not necessarily better but good
enough.
***
of **** stars (add ½* for Disney fans)
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