The Little Mermaid’ Will it Be a Hit or a Flop? Here’s our review!

Last Monday was The Little Mermaid premiere at the Dolby Theater and, by the looks of the glamourous launch event, you can clearly tell Disney is really putting all the eggs on this movie to justify the $200 million they spent on it. Given the substantial amount invested in the movie, a box office collection of less than $500 million would be considered a failure. Are they going to recoup it? Was it worth doing this remake?

Here are my thoughts:

The Little Mermaid‘s remake follows the original story quite literally. So, if you are a fan of the original one, you will like it. It’s good, for sure, but is it amazing? Not really.

The cast lead by Ariel, played by super talented Halle Bailey, is definitely one of the greatest things of the movie. But is not just Halle Bailey. Jonah Hauer-King, Melissa McCarthy and Javier Bardem also put their heart and souls into it, and that’s one of the things that make this movie memorable. While I can’t recall many of Emma Watson’s scenes in The Beauty and The Beast, or what Gaston looked like, with this cast, it won’t happen. The chemistry between them is palpable and so enjoyable to watch.

The part that is a bit iffy is the world building. Unlike in Avatar; The Way of Water where the CGI and every single detail is mindblowing, in The Little Mermaid the life under the sea is quite dull (no wonder why Ariel wants to get out of it). That, toped with the hair and Ursula’s makeup choices, it makes the movie look a bit cheap.

Then we have the new songs that were added. They are not as remarkable as the original and —in all honesty— don’t add too much to the story, so are not really justified. I can assure you no one will leave the theaters singing them.

Overall, it is a cute movie and you will have fun watching it, but it is not an impressive one.