The Little Mermaid (Remake)

[Slave]

I remain rather FOND of Aladdin. Obviously, the Genie is nothing without Robin Williams, but in other ways, I think it addressed some of the character flaws, particularly by giving Princess Jasmine a bit more agency.

Of all the live-action remakes, it's the one I'd be most interested in a sequel (they've already said they won't adapt Return Of Jafar). Although it also seems to be the only one that hasn't moved forward.

 

[Ellie]

Dumbo was quite good as the animated one is SO short of plot, the expansion of the story around the circus wasn’t boring. It’s just a shame the kids couldn’t act.

 

[Pipo]

I bet they wouldn’t do this to Frozen!

they're re-doing that one as well?

 

[Ellie]

Seen it now.

The Good:

• The live action human performances are very good. Halle Bailey is a lovely Ariel overall.
• I spotted the cameo from Jodi Benson which I wasn’t expecting
• They established a better outline for how/why they fall in love with eachother
• Eric is better than I expected

The Bad:

• TOO DARK. Everything under the sea was in desperate need of lighting
• While I like Lin-Manuel Miranda, the new songs were all completely unnecessary
• The CGI design of Sebastian and Flounder is downright distracting. They really should have done a Sonic The Hedgehog and re-done them

 

[Christian]

How was Melissa McC?

 

[Ellie]

How was Melissa McC?

She was very good indeed. I couldn’t really imagine anyone else doing a better job. It’s not her fault that some of the best lines were cut.

I really did miss Les Poissons

 

[Phoenix]

 

[Kratz]

How did this do box-office wise - it opened at 95m in the US. Is that good?

 

[Jark]

How did this do box-office wise - it opened at 95m in the US. Is that good?

the four day is tracking at 117m+ which is record breaking for a Disney live action. so yes.

but the budget was huge at 250m so it needs to make at least 750m globally, which it likely will.

 

[Christian]

US Debut: $95M ($117.5M 4-day)
INT'L Debut: $68M
Worldwide: $163M ($185M 4-day)
Budget: $250M
Female: 68%
Kids: 22%
25+: 50%
Premium Formats: 38%
3D: 13%
IMAX: 6%

It wasn't better down where it's wetter in China where it sunk without trace.

 

[rhythmbandit]

Opened to £5.1 million in the UK which is kind of low, but its half term this week so it'll probably do double that after the weekend.

 

[Christian]

$250m to look like THAT

 

[rhythmbandit]

Only $2.6 million in China!

 

[Kratz]

$250m to look like THAT

Expensive! Makes bomb-to-be ‘Barbie’ look frugal

 

[Berly]

Hmm I’m gonna say that yes I enjoyed this. The first half was generally excellent (though Eric’s song was garbage). Loved Halle Bailey and Melissa McCarthy. Scuttle was the best of the three companions and I liked the small but notable differences

Spoiler

like she saved him in the end…

some of the underwater cgi was a bit rubbish as noted above and her Dad was a snore but yeah… on the whole it’s probably my second favourite live action remake behind Cinderella

 

[Whatevar]

It was fine! Why does everyone have to be so negative these days.

 

[VoR]

Melissa McCarthy’s makeup artist:

It was fine! Why does everyone have to be so negative these days.

 

[Berly]

I actually did think Ursula looked fine make up wise… it’s that picture that is doing the rounds that is shocking

 

[Rowan Tree 🌳]

I thought this was one of the better remakes and that Ursula looked FINE.

The Prince song was definitely very boring.

The island was gorg.

Jungle Book still the best remake.

 

[Pipo]

At some point I thought Prince Eric's singing voice was that guy from Bastille, he sounds just like him.

 

[Whatevar]

Oh god, that bit was bloody awful.

 

[VoR]

OK I know I said I was making peace with this not being for me, but fucking hell it looks ABYSMAL, and why is every scene twice as long?

 

[Kratz]

Where’s Vanessa’s iconic snigger and resting bitch? She was so camp

 

[~ True Legend ~]

I want to see this but it's WAY too hot to not want to be outdoors to make the most of the sun! LOL

 

[Loufoque]

This was fine. I spent most of it thinking about how it was different to the original, and in trying to make it real, the cut the best / funniest lines or visuals.

Halle was very good. The others less so. Melissa McCarthy did her best, but nothing could top the original Ursula. Javier Bardem's Triton was ridiculous, and where were his sexy daddy vibes?

The new songs were all crap. The Scuttlebutt was OK, but not for this movie - it sounded completely incongruous.

 

[Finn]

I didn't think this was terrible, but I didn't make it to the end either - leaving with about 20-30 minutes to go. It's like, why remake The Little Mermaid as longer, duller, and just not as good? Everything felt flat flat flat compared to the original; there were absolutely no gains to be made here for the audience.

Halle was great, and the look of it all was way better than I was expecting from the pre-publicity. Prince Eric - a key part of my childhood and probably the first man I ever fancied - was NOT HOT ENOUGH, and his song was rotten. And don't get me started on 'The Scuttlebutt'.

The Jungle Book, Cinderella and Maleficent (if that counts) are the live action remakes I've enjoyed. I have high hopes for Hercules, although if Guy Ritchie's doing it those hopes are slashed.