Denise m

You will be surprised on how much you like it! We know how much this movie has been hyped and yet critized for various things such as the CGI, the casting choice blah blah blah. If you want to clear any doubts, you have to see it yourself. First things first, this is a children's movie we have grown up with. However this isn't Avatar, and to be honest it doesn't need to be that detailed for something like this. At the end of the day, it's a children's movie reimagined for the new generation. It's going to have to fill the gaps of what the first movie didn't have explained to be more realistic. For example, Prince Eric does not fall in love with Ariel at first sight like every fairytale does. There's chemistry between them as he gets to know little by little of her since she can't speak when they're introduced to each other. You get to see them crushing on each other and it's so natural yet charming. They share the love of exploring new things, which is something we already see in the original Ariel as she collects human items. Casting wise, you have to get past it. Her race does not change a thing from the original story. It blends it to the plot since her father, King Triton, already has six other daughters of different ethnicities representing the seven seas. Sebastian as we know is a Jamaican character, so the story being based in this one somewhere in the Caribbean does not feel out place. There's diversity in this version of the Little Mermaid that doesn't feel questioned by the characters and it's refreshing to see. That's exactly why Disney made the story as it is. Yes, it's true that as POC, we have to get new characters with our own original stories instead of replacing those where the characters are already white. I get it. However for this story it doesn't feel forced. It's not the end of the world. You'll live and at the end of the day, we're not the target audience here. It's to teach love, curiosity for the world, compassion and understanding to today's children. I almost teared up at the end where King Triton says goodbye to Ariel as she is about to leave with Eric. *spoiler alert* he says "You didn't have to loose your voice in order to be heard, now we can all hear you". That's when we see all her sisters and the mer people sumerge from the water near their boat with the original soundtrack of this end scene in the background! What a way to reconcile and show such a loving father-daughter relationship. I loved it and I hope you give it a chance!