Originating from a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen in 1837 and later produced into a hit animated film in 1989 by Walt Disney Productions. This new film brings this story to life with live action and computer generated images (CGI) to present a world under the sea into a realistic presentation.
Seeing Ariel (Halle Bailey) perform with her animated friends, Scuttle (voice of Awkwafina), Sebastian (voice of Daveed Diggs), and Flounder (voice of Jacob Tremblay) blended perfectly and displayed like she did in the animated version. The mixture of the computer generated scenes made it look as if Ariel was really underwater swimming, conversing with her friends, and exploring like she did before.
With the expanded scenes it brought out more details to the story that includes Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) and crew shown at sea and the tragedy that follows. Also the increased coverage of Prince Eric’s kingdom, includes many additional characters and details about his mother Queen Salina (Noma Dumezweni). The extra footage reveals more in depth views of the ocean and the kingdom which helped bring more to the adventure and elaborate on other characters such as King Triton (Javier Bardem), Ursula (Melissa McCarthy), and Vanessa (Jessica Alexander).
Director and writer Rob Marshall does a fantastic job blending the computer generated (CGI) scenes with the live action performance. Putting together a more elegant demonstration of this spectacular narrative that brings more to the viewer and allows them to feel a part of this tale. Rob is able to put together a spectacular live rendition that does a fantastic job bringing the animated version to life. All in all this journey that Marshall transports us on is one that is worth taking and participating in the experience.
Final Comment: I based my grade on the wonderful experience that the fairytale gives us.
Stars 3.5 out of 5
Additional Film Information
Cast: Halle Bailey, Jonah Hauer-King, Melissa McCarthy, Javier Bardem, Noma Dumezweni, Jessica Alexander, Daveed Diggs, Jacob Tremblay, and Awkwafina.
Directed and written by: Rob Marshall
Genre: Adventure, Family, Fantasy, Musical, and Romance.
MPAA Rating: Rated PG for action/peril and some scary images.
Running Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes.
Release Date: May 26, 2023
Distributed By: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release In: Dolby, Dolby Atmos, DTS, Dolby Digital, IMAX, and Standard.