dorian gray

Okay, I'm prefacing this by saying that The Little Mermaid was my literal childhood. I lived and breathed for Ariel. It's still one of my favorite movies of all time. So I think I can have a pretty relevant opinion on the remake :) This adaptation is amazing. It's fantastical, astonishing, the chemistry between Eric and Ariel is ridiculously tangible, and while yeah, maybe the og songs sound a bit more authentic, Halle's Part Of Your World made me cry from how absolutely emotional and beautiful it was. Everyone saying the CGI was bad is wrong. It's insane! All the sea creatures, the mermaids themselves, Ursula - it's all done so, so brilliantly. The underwater sequences are gorgeous, all the shipwrecks and battle scenes are so well done, and no, it's not dark and dreary. Quite the opposite, in fact. I kind of wish the lyrics for some of the songs hadn't been changed, but I understand why they did (Poor Unfortunate Souls, Kiss The Girl) and the altered songs still work wonderfully. This version of Kiss The Girl is actually better than the og, in my opinion. In terms of Ariel and Eric's relationship, there's actual chemistry there! Eric has a backstory and their arcs parallel each other, and we get actual scenes of the two bonding and becoming friends before they fall in love. There's not much of that in the og Little Mermaid, tbh - just dinner, a carriage ride, and the lagoon. The new version adds so much more, and it WORKS! I was actually excited for them to kiss at the end! I'm someone who loved The Little Mermaid as a kid to the point where I watched it every single day. I've seen it on Broadway. I had an Ariel birthday party. And I think every Little Mermaid fan who was as in love with it as I am should watch this adaptation. Yes, it's different. Yes, Scuttle has a rap song, which doesn't work but it's kinda funny. And yes, there's some additions and takeaways from the original, because it's an ADAPTATION. Of course it's not the same! But it's still incredible, beautiful, emotional, all of it. Please watch this film, and don't listen to the racists talking bs about it, because they're wrong <3