There is logic to the breakdown of live action and animation here. Even half-humans are played by actors while everyone else is animated, including Ariel’s friends Scuttle the bird (voiced by Awkwafina, given too few funny lines) and Flounder (Jacob Tremblay in a functional role). But if only we could have seen Diggs singing and dancing.
Melissa McCarthy plays the sea-witch Ursula with evil glee, but is constantly overwhelmed by bolts of light, her own flailing tentacles and other special effects, especially when offering Ariel her deal: grow legs, go above the sea and make Eric fall in love with her, but do it without a voice. Even without dialogue, Bailey makes her connection with Eric seem real, and Hauer-King gives Eric enough of a character, a prince with a social conscience, so that he’s more than the usual bland Disney dreamboat.
The original songs by Alan Menken, with lyrics by the late Howard Ashman, are mostly intact, and the small changes are barely noticeable improvements. Kiss the Girl now says “Just ask her” instead of suggesting that Eric just go in for the kiss, and Ursula’s Poor Unfortunate Souls no longer suggests that men prefer women who can’t speak (even though the film is set in the 19th Century). The three new songs by Menken with lyrics by Lin Manuel-Miranda don’t begin to measure up, though. A rap called The Scuttlebutt, which Awkwafina and Sebastian sing, is not great but at least it avoids the blandness of Eric’s Wild Uncharted Waters and Ariel’s For the First Time.
In true superhero fashion, the film feels padded. A dance scene on a beach and a carriage ride for Eric and Ariel stretch the running time to two hours and 15 minutes. In another unnecessary touch, Eric’s mother the Queen (Noma Dumezweni) delivers a final, blunt message of unity, saying that the worlds of sea and land should live in harmony. The film’s diverse casting has already made the point about unity, and done so much more eloquently. The Little Mermaid mostly avoids preaching, though. It remains what it always was: a charming, escapist fairy tale.
★★★☆☆
The Little Mermaid is on general release from 26 May.
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