Movie review: Halle Bailey makes a lovely 'Little Mermaid,' but this remake is less than shipshape
"But a mermaid has no tears, and therefore she suffers so much more." The line springs from Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid," and it also graces the opening moments of Disney's latest feature-length spin on that immortal fairy tale. Arriving amid mighty cascading walls of water and a few notes from Alan Menken's justly beloved, mildly refurbished score, the quote is a classy if disingenuous flourish. Much like the studio's 1989 hand-drawn touchstone, this ostensibly live-action but heavily digitized redo takes a famously tragic story and spins it into a drama of reckless teenage empowerment, populated by colorful under-the-sea critters and set to a rousing calypso beat. It has, in short, almost nothing to do with Hans Christian Andersen, and even less to do with suffering.
Unless, that is, you're easily tormented by the sights and
You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.
Start your free 30 days