The Little Mermaid live-action remake scores mixed reviews ahead of release trends now
The highly-anticipated, live-action remake of The Little Mermaid has scored mixed reviews ahead of its release, with critics both slamming the 'unfortunate' remake and 'realistic' portrayal of animals while praising Halle Bailey's Ariel.
One rough review by Bloomberg branded the film 'waterlogged conundrum' and described the new rap song The Scuttlebutt, a track sang by Awkwafina's Scuttle and Daveed Diggs' Sebastian, as particularly cringe-worthy.
'Scuttle is voiced by Awkwafina, who's never not funny—except here. In the screening I attended, many grown adults covered their faces to avoid looking at the screen. Both songs feel like first drafts,' Bloomberg noted.
One of the most iconic scenes from the original film, Under The Sea, also perplexed the critic.
'The original is adorable and joyous, and features sea creatures with cherubic, smiling faces. But in the 2023 version, they are faceless, and thus (sorry, fish) they’re simply not as fun to watch,' Bloomberg wrote.
Sink or swim! The highly-anticipated, live-action remake of The Little Mermaid has scored mixed reviews ahead of its release
'Both the old and new numbers end with the camera rapidly cutting between all the sea creatures that are "dancing." In the animated version, this moment is a triumph. In the modern iteration—as the camera jumps between a manta ray’s belly and a snail’s arm and a starfish’s … hole, I guess—you just wonder “What the hell am I looking at?”'
NPR, meanwhile, headlined their review, 'The Little Mermaid is the latest of Disney's poor unfortunate remakes', in a reference to Ursula's song Poor Unfortunate Souls.
They also described Under The Sea as 'dead in the water' and branded the Scuttlebutt rap 'ridiculous.' Like Bloomberg, there was also criticism of how underwater life was portrayed: 'The underwater scenes have a flattened sheen reminiscent of video games circa the early 2000s.'
Entertainment Weekly, meanwhile, was more impressed by Under The Sea and dubbed it a 'visual feast for the eyes.'
"Under the Sea" is the film's high-water mark — featuring choreography from more realistic sea life, including schools of fish, sea stars, and jellyfish, executing Broadway-level dance moves. The film credits the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and the number evokes the Black joy and culture of the legendary dance company in a visual expression of the Caribbean timbre of the tune,' EW wrote.
The New York Post was also frustrated by the depiction of sea creatures.
'What irritates me most, however, are the animals. Not due to the skill of the voice actors (Diggs comes off best of anybody in this), but because their National Geographic appearance exemplifies what’s wrong with these movies,' the outlet noted.
'Nobody wants to watch realistic flounders and tasty-looking
