I liked this movie better than the animated version. In the animated one, Ariel was an annoying little brat willing to trade her father for Eric. This Ariel has a little more of a conscious. You really have to watch it a second time in order to appreciate it. It's not really a movie for kids; this is mostly a love story in my opinion and too serious for children. To be fair, I didn't think the animated version was appropriate either.
People who dislike this movie and have zero positive things to say, well I know they are just full of it because the movie does have great moments. People need to be reasonable. I believe they just want to hate the move.