Absolutely a wonderful movie!!
First, my nit-picks:
I wish the cgi for the underwater had been more consistent. The hair and body movements were stiff in an odd way at times and parts of the movie were too dark imo.
The timing was off for the big "part of your world" water in the background scene, but idk maybe it's just cause it wasn't animated.
The casting for the father seemed like it may have been rushed. It's not the actors' faults, the chemistry may have been off. The ending was better for that though.
Now the good:
I liked it better than the original. Yes. I did not think that was possible. I've been so excited for this movies for months (if not the possibility for years) since The Little Mermaid is my absolute favorite Disney princess movie!!
I really liked the chemistry between the two main leads, the animal sidekicks; and Melissa McCarthy's portrayal of Ursula was SPOT ON. Halle Bailey is very cute and makes a beautiful and serene Ariel!! Her voice really did the role justice as did her acting and facial expressions as well as "body language" (lol). I also liked how the human version of Ursula captured the same villain essence from the original. Definitely go see it. It's not a shot for shot remake, and they changed a few things around, but the overall experience was awesome!!! I will definitely buy a copy when it comes out on Blue Ray!!!