Slanted Eye View

As someone who has loved Disney's The Little Mermaid since it first came out in 1987, I had high hopes for this live action version. But then based on some of the low reviews, I was prepared to be disappointed. I was happily surprised though, when I went to watch it and it was actually better than I was expecting. The visuals were stunning, with the contrast of the dark, gritty reality juxtaposed with the brighter, ethereal elements of the scenery and characters. The performances were also well-done, with a necessary tone of realistic restraint in moments that felt appropriate for the expression of human actors versus cartoon figures. My favorite part of the film was in the evolved screenplay. As a writer myself, I appreciated the effort the writers made to tie together loose ends and fill in narrative gaps that existed in the storytelling of the 1987 cartoon version. For example, the more direct tie-in with the Caribbean element as well as in the rendering of Eric's character and the way in which Ariel gets her voice back this time. All of these writing decisions made for an overall improved storyline, one that makes more sense and thereby made something that I already loved resonate even deeper within my life.