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Post by veu on May 22, 2023 12:54:24 GMT -5
Source: mamasgeeky.com/2023/05/the-little-mermaid-2023-review.htmlThe Little Mermaid (2023) Is The Best Live Action Remake By: Author Tessa Smith
Posted onLast updated: May 22, 2023
The Little Mermaid is the newest Disney live action remake, but have no fear, this time they get it right with a truly magical movie.
The Little Mermaid is the latest classic Disney animated film to be remade into live action. While the heart of it remains the same, the story has evolved, allowing fans to dive deeper into Ariel’s world. Not only are the musical numbers still breathtaking, but there is much more to Eric and Ariel’s love story.
Scuttle (Awkwafina), Sebastian (Daveed Diggs), and Founder (Jacob Tremblay) are the trio we didn’t know we needed as they continue to provide comedic relief that will have the audience laughing through their tears. When it comes to Melissa McCarthy’s Ursula, she is absolutely terrifying, and a woman we don’t want to cross anytime soon.
Yes, Jodie Benson is Ariel, but so is Halle Bailey now. Get ready to fall head over heels in love with this young actress who has earned her spot as Disney’s newest Princess.
Halle Bailey Proves Herself Time & Time Again Unless you have been living under a rock, you know that Halle Bailey can sing. She proves herself as Ariel the very first time she opens her mouth during this movie, and never stops giving it her all. There will not be a dry eye in the house by the time Part Of Your World ends, and that won’t be the only time tears are shed.
Besides having an incredible set of pipes, Halle is a great actress as well. She perfectly embodies Ariel and is easy to believe that she is like this in real life as well. To be able to let the audience in as she delivers a performance that allows us to see exactly how she is feeling and what she is thinking, without ever saying a word, is something that shouldn’t be taken lightly.
When she does get to speak, it only heightens her performance. Little girls, and boys, everywhere will be looking up to her. And I can’t think of another actress more worthy of this praise than her.
Melissa McCarthy Proves Why She Got The Part Melissa McCarthy has some big tentacles to fill as the Disney villain Ursula. Not only does she deliver a stellar yet terrifying performance, her rendition of Poor Unfortunate Souls is sure to send chills down everyone’s backs. It is no surprise that there are stories of young viewers that were at the Hollywood Premiere that were scared to meet Melissa because of how fantastically scary she is as Ursula.
The only real complaint here is that with the additions to the story, she feels underused. The parts of the movie that take place in her lair are dark and creepy. Melissa adds a snarkiness to Ursula that only she could pull off. It is easy to peg her as a true villain. However, with a lot of the story taking place on dry land, we don’t get to see nearly as much of her as we should have.
Eric & Ariel’s Relationship Is Deepened Disney animated films set high expectations when it comes to love, this is no secret. Usually done in the interest of time, Princesses fall in love at the drop of a hat in these movies. They marry their Princes in less than ninety minutes and then the credits roll.
That is why what The Little Mermaid (2023) does with Prince Eric and Ariel in this version feels so much more realistic. Sure, it is still rushed a little bit, but the two take the time to build a relationship and get to know each other It is a friendship first, and a love second. Eric and Ariel’s relationship is deepened in the live action version of the story.
Their relationship is not based solely on looks, they actually have things in common. Eric is not only portrayed as an adventurer and collector himself, he is also kept behind castle doors by an overbearing parent. The two connect on a deeper level when they go exploring his island, which makes their love story feel so much more real than the animated version gave them.
The Changes Fit The Story Besides the evolution of Prince Eric and Ariel’s relationship in this version, there are many more additions to the film. It went from an eighty minute long movie to one that clocks in at over two hours, so surely fans knew there were going to be some changes and updates.
The biggest one being that there are three new songs – two of which are great, and one that is forgettable. Unfortunately the forgettable one belongs to Ariel. I already raved about Halle Bailey’s voice, but this song doesn’t really find its footing in the film. Ariel sings it when she first comes to the island with her legs. This means that she, of course, cannot talk. So she is singing it in her head and we don’t get to see her actually perform it (not really anyways), which takes away from the power of it.
Prince Eric’s song, however, is quite the opposite. It proves that Jonah Hauer-King can hold his own against Halle. The song tells us how he is feeling in that moment and trust me when I tell you that he makes the audience feel it too.
Besides this great addition, the animals get a new song. Trust me when I tell you that Awkwafina and Daveed Diggs rapping is the team up that you never knew you needed, and that you will never forget. Easily the best of the new songs, this one will be on repeat for fans of all ages once the soundtrack drops.
There is also a completely new character, the Queen, who adds more to Prince Eric’s story. This not only gives him a bit more of a backstory, but it allows him to connect on a deeper level with Ariel, as he can understand exactly what she is going through with her father.
The CGI Doesn’t Always Work The biggest complaint about the 2023 version of The Little Mermaid is easily the CGI. Putting the bizarre look of Flounder aside, nearly every underwater scene looks off. We have been spoiled by the likes of Avatar: The Way of the Water and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Their ability to seamlessly pull off these types of scenes is something we shouldn’t think about, but it is hard not to.
Luckily, it doesn’t take long before viewers will more or less forget about the CGI issues, as they become swept away with the story. This is largely in part due to the large scale sets and phenomenal performances the cast delivers. Not to mention the spot on humor that will have you laughing until your belly and cheeks hurt.
Once the movie hits dry land you will be taken aback by the massive sets and incredible story, and forget all about those pesky underwater issues. That is until Ursula becomes a giant but hey, at least she isn’t on the screen too long then.
Overall Thoughts When it comes to the additions that were brought into The Little Mermaid, I love them. Eric and Ariel’s relationship makes so much more sense than in the animated version. It is easy to see why they are so good for each other, and why they fell in love.
At the same time, the core messages of the original are here. About taking risks to get where you want to be in life and about letting your children go when you know you need to. It is very much the same story, yet slightly different. The things that were changed and brought in evolve the story, but the original is still there should you ever want to go visit it. This is not a replacement, it is a compliment.
Scuttle and Sebastian are hilarious together, which is no surprise when you consider the actors. Time and time again they will have the viewers in stitches. Melissa McCarthy nails it as Ursula. She is scary and snarky and does not take no for an answer. She has her goals and she is willing to do anything to accomplish them.
It isn’t all prefect, but The Little Mermaid is the best of Disney’s live action adaptations yet — and it’s not even close. Halle Bailey has proven herself as a Disney Princess over and over. She is captivating every time she is on screen and is the perfect choice for Ariel.
See for yourself when The Little Mermaid swims into theaters everywhere on May 26th.
Rating: 4 out of 5
About The Little Mermaid (2023) The Little Mermaid is the beloved story of Ariel, a beautiful and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure. The youngest of King Triton’s daughters and the most defiant, Ariel longs to find out more about the world beyond the sea and, while visiting the surface, falls for the dashing Prince Eric.
While mermaids are forbidden to interact with humans, Ariel must follow her heart. She makes a deal with the evil sea witch, Ursula, which gives her a chance to experience life on land but ultimately places her life – and her father’s crown – in jeopardy.
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Post by veu on May 22, 2023 12:55:57 GMT -5
Source: variety.com/2023/film/reviews/the-little-mermaid-review-halle-bailey-melissa-mccarthy-1235620560/‘The Little Mermaid’ Review: Halle Bailey and Melissa McCarthy Erase Any Doubts About This Remake’s See-Worthiness 'Chicago' director Rob Marshall risks drowning audiences in visual effects, but anchors his live-action Disney remake by finding the right actors to reinvent its most iconic roles.
By Peter Debruge
Here’s the funny thing about “The Little Mermaid”: Ariel spends most of the film wishing she were human, wondering what it’s like to go walking around on those … what do you call ’em? But practically every girl who sees the movie dreams of swimming in the opposite direction — which is to say, they want to be mermaids … or else an animated Disney princess. “The seaweed is always greener in somebody else’s lake,” as the song goes, and the most important thing about remaking this particular favorite for a fresh generation is maintaining the fantasy that any of us can be Ariel, when in fact, it takes a one-in-a-million talent like Halle Bailey to fill those flippers on-screen.
Every time Disney decides to redo one of its beloved library titles, a chorus of skeptics rise up to ask, “Why?” The advance pushback seemed especially strong with “The Little Mermaid,” which isn’t just any old Disney toon, but the one that launched the animation studio’s ’90s renaissance, kicking off a string of hits that included “Aladdin,” “The Lion King” and “Beauty and the Beast,” nearly all of which have received the “live-action” remake treatment (never mind that some of these are every bit as animated as the films that inspired them — they’re meant to look like the cartoons have come to life).
Michelle Yeoh Says ‘There’s No Sequel’ to ‘Everything Everywhere’ — And She’s Finally Getting Scripts That Don’t Ask For ‘Asian-Looking Person’ At least half of Disney’s recent cover versions have been colossally disappointing, turning touchstones of Americans’ collective childhood into garish CG eyesores while threatening to tarnish our memories of the original. Well, good news in the case of “The Little Mermaid”: Halle Bailey is all the reason that any audience should need to justify Disney revisiting this classic. Director Rob Marshall found his Ariel, and together, they’ve made a keeper. Just wait till you hear her sing “Part of Your World,” delivered with all the conviction of Jennifer Hudson’s career-making rendition of “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going.” A star is born, and as if to punctuate our discovery, Marshall poses Bailey there on a rocky outcropping and smashes a giant wave against her back.
The story you know: Ignoring her father’s orders, teenage Ariel explores the forbidden parts of the sea, taking an interest in all things human. She keeps a cave full of thingabobs that fell overboard, even going so far as to rescue one such castaway — Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) — and swim him back to land. She likes his looks, he’s smitten by her voice, but the two are from different worlds. With a little help (and a Faustian bargain) from octopus-bottomed Aunt Ursula (Melissa McCarthy), she has three days to receive true love’s kiss from Eric, with her soul as collateral and Triton (played by smart-choice Javier Bardem) sure to be upset.
There’s nothing “little” about Marshall’s “Little Mermaid.” Running nearly an hour longer than the 1989 toon, it’s a veritable sea monster of a movie, dramatically expanding the above- and below-water realms of the Caribbean-set original, while adding songs and characters (e.g., Noma Dumezweni as the Queen) like so many barnacles to the hull of the ship. It loses some, too, shedding the “Daughters of Triton” and “Les Poissons” scenes. Personally, I’m not convinced that audiences want every blockbuster they see to feel bloated, but it certainly comes with the territory in these Disney remakes. (This one reportedly cost more than “Titanic.”)
Marshall takes a page from “Chicago” collaborator Bill Condon’s “Beauty and the Beast,” letting the fairy tale play out in ultra-stylized widescreen vistas, digitally rendered to within an inch of their life, such that we’re practically drowning in detail. Ariel’s tail alone — rainbow bright and free-flowing as a betta fish’s fins — feels like it required more computing power than it probably took for Neil Armstrong to reach the moon. Early teases shown in trailers and shoehorned into the Academy Awards telecast gave fans of the original reason to be wary, as the footage looks fairly garish when taken out of context. Heck, it’s garish in context, too, but at least there, it feels like part of Marshall’s maximalist vision.
Through it all, Bailey’s face pulls focus from her elaborate surroundings. She’s got bright Bambi eyes, long butterfly lashes and a radiant princess smile, the uncanny combination of which suggests a live-action cartoon character. While that’s hardly a prerequisite for these remakes, it’s a nice contrast with Ariel’s more naturalistic animal companions — tropical fish Flounder (voiced by Jacob Tremblay), ghost crab Sebastian (Daveed Diggs) and dim-witted northern gannet Scuttle (Awkwafina) — who look almost like the real deal.
Marshall makes the unfortunate decision to apply distracting visual effects to the deep-sea sequences, designed to fool our eyes into believing the actors did their work underwater: flowing CG hair, funny reflections and a lame “Snorks”-like filter, as if everything’s being seen through an aquarium. When the movie’s working, we don’t notice it, as for “Under the Sea,” a stunning sequence of Busby Berkeley-level complexity that suggests what a live-action “Fantasia” might look like. It’s audacious, but nowhere near as charming as “Kiss the Girl,” in which Marshall simplifies things, so we can follow how Sebastian and company are trying to bring Eric and Ariel together in this scene.
Eric gets a song all to himself with “Wild Uncharted Waters,” which is fine but unnecessary (if anything, Eric’s character has been reduced here, making him less of the alpha male hero, so that Ariel might rescue him on occasion). That number sounds markedly different from Alan Menken and Howard Ashman’s more traditional Broadway-style ballads, as does the fast-paced, spoken-word new song “The Scuttlebutt,” which finds Awkwafina spitting Lin-Manuel Miranda’s rapid-fire (and very funny) lyrics.
If Bailey is the film’s big discovery, then McCarthy is its no-brainer. Dolled up to look like Divine’s evil-stepsister in her glowing green lair, the comic star’s just delicious as the movie’s deep-sea villain. Her timing is impeccable, and though the part is virtually identical to the one Pat Carroll originated, she aces what’s demanded of these tricky remakes: Basically, McCarthy manages to hit every beat the super fans expect, while surprising with every pause and inflection. Between Bailey’s wide-eyed urchin and McCarthy’s over-the-top octo-hussy, the movie comes alive — not in some zombified form, like re-animated Disney debacles “Dumbo” and “Pinocchio,” but in a way that gives young audiences something magical to identify with, and fresh mermaid dreams to aspire to.
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Post by veu on May 22, 2023 12:57:19 GMT -5
Source: www.theguardian.com/film/2023/may/22/the-little-mermaid-review-ariel-disney-halle-baileyThe Little Mermaid review – Halle Bailey goes full mermaidcore in Disney’s CGI remake Bailey is the best thing about this film but, despite a team crammed with talent, this live action reworking can’t match the magic of the 1989 classic
Ellen E Jones Mon 22 May 2023 14.00 BST
Halle Bailey – with her huge eyes, soaring singing voice and palpable purity of spirit – is about as naturally Disneyfied as real human beings get. So it’s ironic that her casting as the titular Ariel was ever thought controversial. Bailey is both the finished film’s only unmitigated triumph and the best argument for this whole live action remake enterprise in one shimmering mermaidcore package. If these films are to have any purpose beyond being nostalgia-powered cash-ins, it must be to allow all children – not just the white ones – to see themselves as Magic Kingdom denizens.
But almost everything else about this flops about like a dying fish on deck. Most significantly this applies to the trio of comic-relief characters: Sebastian the crab, Flounder the fish and Scuttle the seabird. This is no fault of the talented voice cast: Daveed Diggs, Jacob Tremblay and Awkwafina, respectively. It’s just that things that are cute or funny when done by an anthropomorphised cartoon cuddlies are no longer cute or funny when done by computer-generated sea-life approximates with no recognisable facial expressions. Whole sequences of character interaction fondly remembered from its 1989 predecessor – Scuttle’s instructions on how to use a human “dinglehopper”, Flounder fleeing a shark attack – are rendered lifeless by CGI. And you’d be lucky to make much of it out through the murk of the underwater cinematography anyway.
It hurts because The Little Mermaid, the original, is a true classic. Its song-and-dance numbers are among the best in the Disney canon, melding diverse influences from Harry Belafonte calypso to Esther William’s 1940s aquamusicals, with the wiggle of legendary drag queen Divine. These have been revived, with original composer Alan Menken drafted in alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda to produce new toe-tappers like The Scuttlebutt. Once again though, performances are fatally undermined by performers: the northern gannet is justly renowned for its diving abilities, but this seabird species simply cannot musically emote. Maybe it’s the beak.
The Little Mermaid doesn’t lack for talent or audience goodwill – director Rob Marshall did wonders with Mary Poppins Returns – but the siren call of supposedly surefire box office has sunk it nonetheless. There is dry land in sight though, and it’s the same outcrop on which the House of Mouse was built: the realisation that some stories – the most magical ones, in fact – are best told with animation.
The Little Mermaid is released on 25 May in Australia, and on 26 May in the US and UK.
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Post by veu on May 22, 2023 12:59:26 GMT -5
Source: collider.com/the-little-mermaid-2023-review/‘The Little Mermaid’ Review: A Rare Disney Live-Action Remake That Captures the Magic of the Original BY ROSS BONAIME PUBLISHED 3 HOURS AGO
Rob Marshall's update of the 1989 animated classic is one of the rare live-action remakes that manages to capture that Disney magic.
Halle Bailey as Ariel in 'The Little Mermaid' 2023Image via Walt Disney Studios This year, Disney is celebrating its 100th anniversary, and from the earliest Mickey shorts to the gargantuan company that they’ve become in the last century, one thing ties together Disney at its best: magic. For many of us, Disney films are the first place we felt this magic in film, and it’s this tenet that is key to Disney at its finest. Which is what has made Disney’s recent string of live-action remakes of their animated classics such a curious choice. While there have certainly been solid live-action films that have come out of this (last month’s Peter Pan & Wendy stands as one of the best), the question that ultimately comes up when watching any of these films is: why would I watch this instead of the original? Even when these films are decent, they’re often missing the magic that the originals inherently had. Why watch animated lions made to look real when you could watch The Lion King? Who needed to see an attempt at a realistic Pinocchio?
Disney’s latest live-action remake, The Little Mermaid, is one of their most daring projects so far. Not only is this a childhood favorite for so many, often considered one of the best animated films of all time, but it’s also a film that helped usher in the Disney Renaissance of the late 80s-early 90s. But even more important, The Little Mermaid, by design, is a film that needs that magic to work, as a story that brings the ocean to life with colorful characters and some of the best musical numbers in Disney history. Thankfully, The Little Mermaid is one of the rare Disney remakes that manages to bring this magic to live-action. This Little Mermaid understandably can’t match the levels of the original, but it does far better than most.
Halle Bailey stars in this adaptation as Ariel, a mermaid who—much to the chagrin of her father King Triton (Javier Bardem)—longs to be part of the human world. When she saves Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) from drowning, she becomes even more enamored with the world above the sea. Despite her father forbidding her fascination with humans, Ariel finds help in the sea witch Ursula (Melissa McCarthy), who makes a deal with her to exchange her lovely voice for human legs in order to go to the land and get Prince Eric to fall in love with her. If Ariel can’t get Eric to fall in love with her and give her true love’s kiss in three days, her life will be in Ursula’s hands, which will put Triton and all of the underwater world in peril.
A Welcome Update to a Classic Story For a little more than a decade, director Rob Marshall has primarily worked for Disney, sometimes nailing that magic and sometimes not. 2011’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides was an odd match for Marshall, and that could be felt throughout that fourth installment, while 2014’s Into the Woods had fun playing with the tropes of Disney stories, yet without the enchantment that made those stories so interesting to begin with. However, Marshall has gotten better at figuring out what these stories need. 2018’s Mary Poppins Returns—like The Little Mermaid—matches the tone this follow-up needs and provides the joy of the original, even if it can’t quite reach the highs of the first film. Mary Poppins Returns and The Little Mermaid (both also written by David Magee) are both similarly admirable updates that find a way to bring these stories to a new audience with that magic intact.
But another key ingredient that has been present in all the best of these live-action remakes is updating elements that are smart additions that flesh out this story and explore ideas that the original wasn’t able to in its abbreviated runtime. Cinderella dove into why Lady Tremaine was so disdainful towards Cinderella, while Maleficent showed the dark history of the title character that led her down the path we saw in Sleeping Beauty. The Little Mermaid also excels at expanding this story is thoughtful and interesting ways that fans of the original will appreciate. For example, Prince Eric is more than just a pretty face—he’s also someone who also feels out of place in his current situation, searching the seas for something more, and giving Ariel something to connect to other than looks. This especially matters in the second half of the film as we watch Ariel and Eric get to know each other. As they begin to fall for each other, this begins to feel more like two characters falling in love, as opposed to the one-dimensional love that we saw in the animated film.
The Little Mermaid Expands and Explores the World Further It’s this fleshing out of the entire world that makes The Little Mermaid feel worthwhile, and again, while it can’t necessarily match the greatness of the animated original, it’s moments like these that make it hard to not appreciate that this film exists. Magee’s script takes its time to make these all feel like fully-realized characters, each with a history and agency that the animated film simply didn’t have time for.
Thankfully, The Little Mermaid has an excellent cast that excels at bringing this world to life. Bailey does a tremendous job as Ariel, and her version of “Part of Your World” is a showstopper. McCarthy is also a perfect choice as Ursula, matching the wit and darkness that made her one of the great Disney villains. Daveed Diggs, Jacob Tremblay, and Awkwafina are also quite good as Sebastian, Flounder, and Scuttle, and while these characters might’ve looked strange in still images from the film, in action, there’s nothing strange about them. And Bardem also finds the right tone with Triton, an intimidating figure who runs the seas with an iron fist, yet the love for his youngest daughter always shines through.
But one of the biggest surprises again is Hauer-King as Eric, not just because the film gives him more to do than in the previous film, but Marshall and Magee know how to make him someone we can understand why Ariel would be instantly drawn to him in the first place. The Little Mermaid no longer feels like the story of a mermaid falling in love with a man, but rather, this version makes this relationship more of a mutual connection, and a major part of that is Hauer-King’s performance.
The Little Mermaid Does Justice to the Musical Numbers...With One Exception.
A major part of The Little Mermaid’s magic was the musical numbers, and while this update isn’t quite the colorful, wild, Busby Berkeley-inspired musical that the original was, it makes up for it in its own right. For example, “Kiss the Girl” becomes more of an intimate affair, as Sebastian, Flounder, and Scuttle take the lead, and “Part of Your World” has an even stronger emotional core to it, while “Poor Unfortunate Souls” gives McCarthy some room to play around. Even the new songs mostly work, as they help deepen the characters of Ariel and Eric as they fall in love. However, probably the biggest misstep in this update is “The Scuttlebutt,” a Hamilton-esque rap written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and performed by Awkwafina and Diggs. While the other songs fit in with the decades-old songs, “The Scuttlebutt” is awkward and sticks out like a sore thumb.
Despite this awkward song, The Little Mermaid is one of the closest of Disney’s live-action remakes to capture the magic that made the animated original such a classic. By further expanding this world and these characters, Marshall and Magee are doing exactly the type of expansion these remakes should be going for, and sets a strong template for Disney going forward. The Little Mermaid might not match the greatness of the original, but it’s the rare remake that feels worthy of being part of our world.
Rating: B
The Little Mermaid comes to theaters on May 26.
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Post by veu on May 22, 2023 13:19:33 GMT -5
Source: ew.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-little-mermaid-review-halle-bailey/The Little Mermaid review: Halle Bailey swims (and sings) her way to stardom The seaweed is actually greener this time.
By Maureen Lee Lenker May 22, 2023 at 09:00 AM EDT
The Little Mermaid (2023 movie) A- TYPE Movie GENRE Musical Fantasy
When it comes to thingamabobs, Disney's got plenty, but as far as saving graces go, one tale rises to the surface.
In 1989, when The Little Mermaid made its initial box office bow, it reinvigorated Disney animation and launched what has been dubbed the Disney Renaissance. It marked the studio's first animated feature-length hit since 1977's The Rescuers and their first animated fairy tale since 1959's Sleeping Beauty, helping the floundering studio reestablish itself as a leader in the space. What's more, the music and lyrics by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman brought Broadway-style structure to the animated film, evolving the movie musical.
Nowadays, Disney is once again at a crossroads. The streaming bubble is bursting, the theatrical model remains in flux after the pandemic disruption, and an un-slaked thirst for quarterly profit growth is pushing the company to rely ever more heavily on provable IP. Disney has come under fire for a reliance on its own properties, the regurgitation of its animated hits in live-action remakes and lackluster churn of Marvel and Star Wars product. But a red-headed mermaid is here to save the day once more with a new take on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale.
Halle Bailey as Ariel in Disney's live-action THE LITTLE MERMAID. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2023 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Halle Bailey wants to be part of your world in 'The Little Mermaid' | CREDIT: PHOTO COURTESY OF DISNEY
This iteration of The Little Mermaid is the studio's freshest catch since it kicked off this live-action trend with 2015's Cinderella, featuring refreshing storytelling that captures the magic of the original. Director Rob Marshall at last has found material that fits him as well as 2002's Chicago, his splashy theatrical style merging with the tropes of musical comedy and something darker around the edges. He even finds a spot for his "they're happening in someone's head" approach to numbers in new track "For the First Time," giving a voiceless Ariel a musical inner monologue.
As the titular mermaid yearning for a life beyond the sea, Ariel is at the heart of this. In Halle Bailey, Disney and Marshall mint a new star. Bailey is breathtaking as Ariel. Her rendition of "Part of Your World" (the best "I want" song ever written) transmogrifies the already classic tune into something as otherworldly as undiscovered sea life. But it's her altogether human performance that makes it impossible not to fall in love with her. Her Ariel is less a tempestuous teenager with a crush than she is a blossoming and curious young woman.
While Ariel's interest in the human world beyond Prince Eric was always implicit in the story, David Magee's screenplay and Bailey's visible hunger for a world beyond her gilded net makes it abundantly clear that Ariel's fascination with life on land isn't driven purely by interest in a man. Instead, she and Eric (a dashing Jonah Hauer-King) are drawn to each other because of their mutual curiosity for worlds beyond their own. A new, quietly drawn scene where Eric shows the voiceless Ariel the wonders of his own trove of treasures untold fills in this point of connection between them with subtlety and beauty.
(L-R): Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric and Halle Bailey as Ariel in Disney's live-action THE LITTLE MERMAID. Photo by Giles Keyte. © 2023 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric and Halle Bailey as Ariel in 'The Little Mermaid' | CREDIT: PHOTO COURTESY OF DISNEY
Much has been made of the film's attempts to erase any potentially problematic content, changing a lyric in "Kiss the Girl" to address consent concerns and eliminating the "body language" section of "Poor Unfortunate Souls." While they are unnecessary edits, they're not glaring and pass so quickly that unless you have sung this soundtrack from start to finish in the shower for most of your life, you will scarcely notice them.
What is marvelous is this more diverse world of characters and a new Disney princess in Bailey. Her Ariel is so radiant that she seems to possess the properties of bioluminescence, absolutely glowing in every scene. Like the screen actors of the past who began as silent creatures, conveying the panoply of human emotion with looks and gestures rather than dialogue, Bailey has a similar task for a portion of the film when Ariel gives up her voice. It's engrossing to watch how much story she can tell with only her eyes or the tilt of her head. It's a type of performance and incumbent stardom we rarely see anymore.
Eric is given more depth here, as well, his status as a shipwrecked orphan and interest in the world beyond sturdily grounded in Hauer-King's performance. His new song "Wild Uncharted Waters" — from Menken and lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda — puts Eric's journey in parallel to Ariel's. Hauer-King elevates the character beyond a bland handsome face, while never pulling focus from Bailey's star turn.
(L-R): Halle Bailey as Ariel, Sebastian (voiced by Daveed Diggs), and Scuttle (voiced by Awkwafina) in Disney's live-action THE LITTLE MERMAID. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2023 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Sebastian the Crab as voiced by Daveed Diggs in 'The Little Mermaid' | CREDIT: PHOTO COURTESY OF DISNEY
Besides, Bailey's true foil isn't Hauer-King, it's Daveed Diggs as the voice of Sebastian, the put-upon crab tasked with watching over her. Diggs rose to fame as the original Lafayette and Jefferson in Broadway's Hamilton, but he's parlayed that breakout into a range of roles. Where Lafayette and Jefferson were egotistical bombasts, Diggs' Sebastian is a neurotic crustacean with a heart far softer than his shell. His vocal performance is both funny and tender, lending the overwhelmed crab more dignity and humanity than his animated predecessor. He delivers his feature number, "Under the Sea," with glee and precision, resulting in a riotous air of celebration.
"Under the Sea" is the film's high-water mark — featuring choreography from more realistic sea life, including schools of fish, sea stars, and jellyfish, executing Broadway-level dance moves. The film credits the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and the number evokes the Black joy and culture of the legendary dance company in a visual expression of the Caribbean timbre of the tune. It's a visual feast for the eyes, a veritable seafood buffet with swirling tableaus rife with vibrant coral and flashy fins. This chromatic kaleidoscope of sea life is a work of art unto itself, an irresistible backdrop for the film's iconic score and dazzling performances.
As sea witch Ursula, Melissa McCarthy is as enrapturing as her tentacles. She reels back some of her signature gross-out schtick and instead goes full drag-queen fabulous in a performance that feels like Drag Race by way of Norma Desmond. Marshall contains McCarthy's chaotic energy, allowing it to burst out in measured moments. Her Ursula is equal parts villainy and glamor, becoming something truly terrifying in her climactic transformation.
Melissa McCarthy as Ursula in Disney's live-action THE LITTLE MERMAID. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2023 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Melissa McCarthy as Ursula in 'The Little Mermaid' | CREDIT: PHOTO COURTESY OF DISNEY
Magee's screenplay gives Ursula a more fleshed-out backstory as Triton's sister, but it could go further, as we never fully understand the tension and relationship between the two. That is partly the fault of Javier Bardem, who is the film's weakest link as a rather one-note King of the Sea, relying on his general air of menace. It's a disappointing turn from him, particularly given that Triton's arc should be one of the story's most compelling.
Awkwafina is appropriately grating as Scuttle, but in that, she's too reliant on her acting persona to take the place of character work. The new songs, from Menken and Miranda, largely fade into the background, overshadowed by the original score's classics, but "The Scuttlebutt," a rap number for Scuttle and Sebastian, is a standout. Miranda's signature style is abundantly evident and both Awkwafina and Diggs get to showcase their chops. (Though, it would've been nice for Diggs' extraordinary prowess and speed as a rapper to receive more of a showcase throughout the song.)
On the whole, The Little Mermaid does what past live-action remakes haven't: justify its existence beyond a blatant cash grab. It's not the new songs or even the dazzling visuals breathing new life into this watery world that do it. It's Bailey, her singular performance as Ariel, and the opportunity to give the world a Disney princess for a new generation, with all of the Mouse House whimsy on one side of the scales, and a depth and humanity that feels neither preachy nor performative on the other.
The human world, it's a mess, but with Halle Bailey, life under the sea is better than anything Disney live-action has done in nearly a decade. A-
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Post by veu on May 22, 2023 15:01:40 GMT -5
Source: screenrant.com/the-little-mermaid-review/?utm_content=bufferee343&utm_medium=Social-Distribution&utm_source=SR-TW&utm_campaign=SR-TWThe Little Mermaid Review: Halle Bailey Is The Perfect Ariel In Disney’s Remake BY RACHEL LABONTE PUBLISHED 7 HOURS AGO Led by a pitch-perfect Halle Bailey, The Little Mermaid is bolstered by deeper characterization and a grand scope, even as it grapples with flaws.
Halle Bailey as Ariel emerging from the water in The Little Mermaid
After much anticipation and debate, Disney's live-action The Little Mermaid officially swims into theaters this week. The Rob Marshall-directed movie is the latest in a steadily growing line of live-action remakes put out by the Mouse House, and it's safe to say it is one of the studio's better offerings. In terms of faithfulness, The Little Mermaid is similar to the remakes of Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin, in that the exact same story is told, albeit with some extra padding and a few new songs. Led by a pitch-perfect Halle Bailey, The Little Mermaid is bolstered by deeper characterization and a grand scope, even as it grapples with awkward visuals and a strangely shallow climax.
Ariel (Bailey), the youngest daughter of sea king Triton (Javier Bardem), is an odd sort of mermaid. Rather than be content with her underwater world, Ariel is fascinated by what lies above, spending her days collecting lost human artifacts and dreaming of visiting dry land someday. When a devastating storm causes yet another shipwreck, Ariel saves the dashing Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) and only becomes more eager to see his world for herself. Enter the sea witch Ursula (Melissa McCarthy), who strikes a bargain with the princess: She can spend three days up on land as a human, but within that time, she must get true love's kiss from Eric. If she fails, she will be Ursula's pawn forever. And, of course, she must do this without her voice.
Jonah Hauer-King and Halle Bailey in The Little Mermaid
Anyone who has seen the original 1989 Little Mermaid will know exactly how this new film, penned by Dave Magee, plays out. Outside of a couple new songs, a longer sequence wherein Ariel explores the human world, and an added complication from Ursula, the Little Mermaid remake plays out in much the same way as the original, with some shots even being direct recreations of the animated movie (such as the much-discussed shot of Ariel's hair flip as she emerges from the water). The added elements only make the overall story stronger, and the new songs, written by original composer and co-songwriter Alan Menken and Hamilton mastermind Lin-Manuel Miranda, fit in well with the plot. The sweeping score, filled with Menken's iconic melodies, elicits chills. Unfortunately, The Little Mermaid's faithfulness to the original film ends up making the climactic battle with Ursula weaker; it lacks urgency as it's only carrying out necessary plot beats.
Before that, though, The Little Mermaid succeeds in deepening Ariel's character and her connection with Eric. There has been much debate over the years regarding Ariel's decision to "give her voice up for a man," and the new film strives to side-step that by playing up her belief that the two worlds — underwater and land — can learn from and aid each other. When she actually becomes a human, more time is spent on her exploration of this new world, both through a song and an extended day of adventure with Eric. The Little Mermaid highlights the similarities between Eric and Ariel, which primarily comes through in their thirst for knowledge and adventure. As a result, their relationship is strengthened and becomes one to savor; Bailey and Hauer-King have a sweet chemistry.
Melissa McCarthy in The Little Mermaid
From the moment she swims onscreen, Bailey becomes the perfect live-action Ariel. Brimming with an eagerness that will not be tamped down, Bailey captures the essence of the beloved princess, from her headstrong nature to her naïveté. If any doubt lingered, her showstopping vocals on "Part of Your World" would put them to rest entirely. Marshall has assembled an impressive cast for The Little Mermaid, though some are better served than others. Undoubtedly, the clear standout within the supporting cast is McCarthy as Ursula, almost instantly making a case for her to play more villain roles. McCarthy is clearly having a ball here, relishing in each line reading and arched eyebrow. Her "Poor Unfortunate Souls" is another excellent musical moment, though she is given frustratingly little to do. A scene between Ursula and Triton later in the film gives a glimpse of the missed potential with her role. The Little Mermaid's other MVP is Daveed Diggs, who voices harried crab Sebastian and earns plenty of laughs.
There has been plenty of online debate surrounding The Little Mermaid's visual effects and realistic character designs. Overall, things are not nearly as bad as some had feared, though the movie does ultimately run into issues that have consistently plagued Disney's live-action remakes. Animal characters such as Sebastian, Flounder (Jacob Tremblay), and Scuttle (Awkwafina) lack the expressiveness that can be achieved in animation, though the vocal performances make up for that (Awkwafina is a bit of an exception, purely because her Scuttle simply feels like Awkwafina herself). The merfolk's underwater scenes lead to some murky visuals that take away from the realistic look Marshall strives for. However, when the camera and the characters are steady, this is mostly fine.
If Disney is going to continue reinventing their classics in live-action form, then audiences should hope future offerings are similar to The Little Mermaid. There was room to stray further away from the source material, and perhaps the movie would've been better served if it had. However, Marshall has captured enough of the magic from the original to entertain longtime fans. Bailey's Ariel is one for the ages, and McCarthy is fantastic as Ursula. With these two ladies on board, The Little Mermaid is a genuine delight.
The Little Mermaid releases in theaters on Friday, May 26. It is 135 minutes long and rated PG for action/peril and some scary images.
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Post by veu on May 22, 2023 15:10:15 GMT -5
Source: www.digitalspy.com/movies/a43900572/little-mermaid-review/Movies The Little Mermaid The Little Mermaid is Disney's best live-action remake Halle Bailey is a powerhouse.
By Iona Rowan PUBLISHED: 22 MAY 2023
Following the death of Walt Disney in 1966 and his brother Roy in 1971, Disney entered something of a dark period. It struggled to replicate the box-office success of golden-age classics Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella and The Jungle Book, and was more or less at the edge of the abyss.
However, the tide of fortune shifted for the studio with the release of its 1989 animated feature The Little Mermaid, which emerged from the depths and launched what is now known as the Disney Renaissance.
This new era saw Disney return to its traditional storytelling roots while using Broadway-inspired music to propel the narrative forward, laying the groundwork for later Disney hits like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King, until the era ended with Tarzan in 1999.
Given The Little Mermaid's history and role in making Disney the powerhouse empire it is today, it's quite fitting that its live-action remake is the studio's best retelling of a classic tale to date.
halle bailey, the little mermaid Disney
In case you've never seen the animation, The Little Mermaid centres on a spirited young mermaid named Ariel (Halle Bailey), who is captivated by the world up above and later falls for a human prince after she saves him from a shipwreck.
While mermaids are forbidden from interacting with humans, Ariel defies her father King Triton's (Javier Bardem) orders and strikes a bargain with the wicked sea witch Ursula (Melissa McCarthy), who gives Ariel the chance to explore life on land for three days in exchange for her voice.
Ariel must share true love's kiss with Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) within these three days if she wants to remain human, otherwise she will transform back into a mermaid and belong to Ursula.
It's very much business as usual when it comes to the plot, but director Rob Marshall has made sure to add some new elements which help set it apart.
scuttle, flounder, ariel, halle bailey, the little mermaid Disney
The tail tale has been subject to criticism in recent years for depicting a young woman who gives up her voice for a man. While we're not sure this was ever Ariel's sole motivation (have you listened to 'Part of Your World?'), the remake adds a small yet significant change early on to nip this criticism in the bud.
Before Sebastian tries to convince Ariel that life 'Under the Sea' is better (which Daveed Diggs nails, by the way) after she saves Eric from the shipwreck, Ariel tells him: "If you had just seen it up there, the ship rolled on the wind, and they filled the sky with fire."
In the animated version, however, Ariel fawns over the human prince and pulls petals from a flower one by one, reciting "he loves me, he loves me not" until she excitedly lands on "he loves me!".
It may be small, but this change effectively drives forward the idea that Ariel is initially fascinated by the human world and that she longs to explore it, while the possibility of courting a charming young prince is merely an added bonus.
Ariel's brand-new song 'For the First Time', which she sings when she sets foot on land for, you guessed it, the very first time, further aims to prove this, while managing to reach the stirring heights of the classic Little Mermaid songs.
halle bailey and jonah hauer king, the little mermaid Disney
McCarthy and Bardem deliver strong performances as Ursula and King Triton, while Hauer-King makes the most of Prince Eric's expanded role from the animation. He's now a fully realised character who has his own journey, aspirations, and even a song. His chemistry with Bailey is also a highpoint.
What makes this remake Disney's best, though, is undoubtedly Bailey's performance. Even without her voice, she's sheer magic and makes you feel every emotion Ariel is experiencing. Her rendition of 'Part of Your World' is a showstopper, proving she's every bit a Disney princess.
We must admit that the underwater visual effects can be a little rough at times, and the uncanny CGI Sebastian is pretty hard to look past. It also feels a little too long, but none of this is really enough to detract from the overall enjoyment.
The Little Mermaid retains the heart and spirit of the animated classic, while adding new elements that offer a fresh perspective on familiar events. Thanks in large part to Bailey's outstanding performance, this adaptation has the potential to captivate a new generation of Disney fans.
4 stars The Little Mermaid is released in cinemas on May 26. The animated movie is streaming now on Disney+.
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Post by veu on May 22, 2023 15:11:04 GMT -5
Source: comicbook.com/movies/news/the-little-mermaid-review-disney-remake-2023/The Little Mermaid Review: Disney's Most Radiant and Romantic Live-Action Retelling in Years By JENNA ANDERSON - May 22, 2023 12:00 pm EDT
1989's The Little Mermaid has become iconic for a number of reasons, as its determined titular princess, its impossibly catchy musical numbers, and its cartoony cast of characters have all resonated with audiences in one way or another over the years. But in the tapestry of Disney itself, The Little Mermaid will always be seen as a pivotal turning point, with its monumental performance at the box office kicking off the "Disney Renaissance." Over three decades later, Disney's live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid is on the precipice of a renaissance, too, debuting at a time when audiences are enthusiastically beginning to return to the post-COVID box office, and when films with bombastic action or crowd-pleasing characters have experienced genuine success. The Little Mermaid could (and should) join those ranks of smash hits — in part because its sincere, talent-driven spectacle feels like more of a revelation than ever. The Little Mermaid not only holds the 1989 original in high regard, but it captures the epic and soul-healing nature of fairy tales for a new generation, delivering a satisfying blockbuster with enough heart and romance to vastly outweigh any of its shortcomings.
The Little Mermaid recounts the tale of Ariel (Halle Bailey), a mermaid whose longing for adventure has been dwarfed in the undersea kingdom ruled by her father, King Triton (Javier Bardem). After a fiery shipwreck leads to Ariel crossing paths with — and saving the life of — Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King), she grows determined to join the world of man… but can only do so through a dark deal with her aunt, Ursula (Melissa McCarthy). Ariel trades her voice for the opportunity to live amongst the humans, which sets off a chain of events that will change her, Eric, and their kingdoms forever.
Admittedly, it feels odd trying to encapsulate The Little Mermaid's plot, in part because both Disney's animated film and the original Hans Christian Andersen fable have become so heavily ingrained in our popular culture. That sense of iconography has been an interesting dilemma with Disney's other live-action remakes, which have each taken a different approach to the fine line between making small changes and simply regurgitating the existing source material in a new package. Thankfully, The Little Mermaid is strong enough in its convictions to largely take the former option, pursuing a reverential, but inventive approach to the recognizable story. Sure, the film's first act has several sequences that are beat-for-beat recreations from the animated film — but they come across like intentional acknowledgments of how strong those scenes were to begin with.
Those strong scenes are accompanied by a lot of new additions, resulting in a run time nearly an hour longer than the animated The Little Mermaid, but also crafting a more complete and complex telling of the story. Not every new element will land perfectly — your personal mileage on the well-crafted, but anachronistic "Scuttlebutt" rap will vary wildly, depending on your pre-existing penchant for Lin-Manuel Miranda's music. But thankfully, a lot of the additional content seems destined to resonate with audiences.
A vast majority of the new real estate is given to the dynamic between Ariel and Eric: the baked-in conflict between the land and sea, Eric's own backstory as an outsider, and eventually, their shared romance. Without getting into spoilers, these elements might be the most pleasant surprise of The Little Mermaid, in part because they are handled in such a thoughtful and curious context. Eric is able to be more than the blandly charming, two-dimensional character that he is in the animated film, and it's easy to see that Ariel is genuinely falling in love with him, and not just the manifestation of her hopes and dreams that he represents. As a result, watching the two of them fall in love across The Little Mermaid's second and third acts is a balanced and captivating experience (one that they're both equal players in, even when Ariel isn't able to speak for a good portion of the movie).
The risks The Little Mermaid takes would not work if not for the film's leads, as Bailey and Hauer-King deliver career-defining performances. After literal years of anticipation surrounding Bailey taking on the titular role, the end result proves to have been more than worth the wait, as she not only effortlessly embodies Ariel's earnestness and enthusiasm, but adds even more layers of depth to it. Her mesmerizing performance becomes the true spectacle of the film, to the point where the technical prowess and story beats surrounding her at any particular moment fade into the background. Nowhere is this more apparent than in her rendition of "Part of Your World" and its reprise, which could easily go down in history as our modern-day version of Judy Garland's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."
Hauer-King's performance works in perfect harmony with Bailey's, especially once Ariel loses her voice and navigates through scenes nonverbally. As Eric is afforded that aforementioned much-needed depth, he evolves into an equal (but never overshadowing) secondary protagonist of the film — even getting his own solo musical number, "Wild Uncharted Waters," which hits like a charmingly sincere version of Into the Woods' infamous "Agony." Once Ariel and Eric begin to share more scenes together, Bailey and Hauer-King's chemistry makes their journey toward love (and their journey to keep that love in the face of increasingly bizarre odds) the selling point of the movie. As you branch out into The Little Mermaid's supporting cast, the performances range from complementary to borderline-distracting. McCarthy captures a good portion of Urusla's legendary scenery-chewing — at times, she reads like more of a fun, goth aunt than a painfully obvious villain, which makes her early, pre-betrayal rapport with Ariel a bit more believable. Bardem's Triton is so stoic, it regularly seems like he's in a different movie from the rest of his costars, but his emotional approach works in a few key moments.
The trio of Ariel's talking animal friends — Sebastian (Daveed Diggs), Scuttle (Awkwafina), and Flounder (Jacob Tremblay) — fulfill their roles admirably, but don't particularly reinvent the wheel. The technical approach to The Little Mermaid, which is filled with a lot of good and a smidge of uncanny valley, doesn't help that component. The photorealistic, true-to-life designs of the film's animals have some visual setbacks, and come nowhere close to the whimsical display of the animated film. This becomes obvious once The Little Mermaid gets to its rendition of "Under the Sea", which not only seems to shoot around Sebastian to minimize how many times they have to animate his mouth moving, but choreographs many of its dancing fish with the liveliness of a PBS nature special.
If the rest of the film weren't so entertaining and thematically magical, this would be a make-or-break element — but instead, it ends up being a fleeting disappointment. That being said, the vast majority of technical elements of The Little Mermaid deserve to be celebrated — the mermaid designs are inspired, and the CGI construction of the underwater sequences is (with a few exceptions) much more colorful than the film's trailers let on. The practical costuming and architecture, particularly in the palace that Eric calls home, are stunning and convey a liveliness that matches Ariel's enthusiasm for the surface world.
Maybe Disney's live-action remakes (which don't seem to be stopping anytime soon) can be seen as more than an easy opportunity to make some money at the box office, or an attempt to "legitimize" stories that were already told well in animation. Maybe, with the right story and in the right hands, these movies can function more as retellings, taking the opportunity to add to the tapestry of their central myths. The Little Mermaid near-perfectly proves how to do that, honoring almost everything that worked about Disney's 84-minute animated hit, while approaching its epic story from a broader, surprisingly tender angle. The Little Mermaid might be a story that audiences have already consumed (and will continue to consume) hundreds of times — but thanks to the incredible performances from its leads, and a whole lot of heart, this live-action iteration almost makes you feel like you're watching it for the first time.
Rating: 4 out of 5
The Little Mermaid will be released exclusively in theaters on Friday, May 26th.
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Post by veu on May 22, 2023 15:13:49 GMT -5
Source: www.slashfilm.com/1292418/the-little-mermaid-review/The Little Mermaid Review: A Riveting Live-Action Tale That Improves On The Original
Disney
BY VANESSA ARMSTRONG/MAY 22, 2023 9:11 AM EST I have a confession to make. I'm not a big fan of Disney's 1989 adaptation of "The Little Mermaid." There are aspects of it I do enjoy (specifically the soundtrack, scored by Alan Menken with songs by Menken and Howard Ashman), but the story surrounding Ariel and Prince Eric's romance hasn't aged well. At all.
So much so, in fact, that when my toddler asks to watch "the merfmaid" (Ariel's Undersea Adventure attraction at Disney California Adventure introduced her to the Disney version of the tale), I turn on the direct-to-video prequel released in 2008: "The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning." Does the movie hold a flame to the first film? It does not. But even though the mom dies in "Ariel's Beginning" (it's still Disney, after all), it doesn't send the message to my daughter that girls should sacrifice parts of themselves to be with someone, much less someone you just met, where the only connection you share is that you both think the other is attractive.
It's been 34 years since the Mouse House's first foray into adapting Hans Christen Anderson's tragic tale into kid-friendly fare, and "The Little Mermaid" is the latest Disney classic to get a live-action retelling. I've been skeptical of the whole live-action remake movement — projects primarily inspired to make a lot of money by hewing to stories that have already been done. There can be, however, an artistic benefit to these remakes. When done well, they can capture the beloved parts of the originals while also addressing their failings, giving a new generation of children better messages to learn and characters who better reflect and represent the world we live in.
"The Little Mermaid" is a live-action remake done well. The casting (with one notable exception) is phenomenal, led by Halle Bailey's breathtaking performance as Ariel; the original songs are portrayed in vivid displays that will make children's eyes sparkle; and the story has been adjusted to correct the first film's less-than-modern relationships.
A school of talent
Disney
The act of playing such a well-known character as Ariel is no easy feat, but Halle Bailey beautifully captures the mermaid's curiosity, earnestness, and desire to explore beyond the confines of her home. She is Ariel before she even sings a word, and when she finally does sing "Part of Your World," there's no question that Bailey is royalty in her own right and on her way to becoming a major star.
The supporting cast, for the most part, is also stellar. Melissa McCarthy takes on her role as the evil sea witch Ursula with wicked glee, and Ariel's three compatriots — the fish Flounder (Jacob Tremblay), the crab Sebastian (Daveed Diggs), and the seabird Scuttle (Awkafina) — provide heart and an undertow of comedic relief that a movie like this requires. And while there has been some snickering about Flounder and Sebastian looking disturbingly realistic, the initial shock of seeing an anatomically correct crustacean speak with a Caribbean accent fades quickly once you get caught up in the story. Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) is also more than a mere himbo in the remake; the live-action version gives the prince some needed character development — he has wants and desires beyond trying to find the mysterious girl who saved him from drowning — and he even gets his own schmaltzy ballad to vocalize his angst.
But then there's King Triton (Javier Bardem). As in the 1989 movie, the merman remains a distant dad in this version, but Bardem comes across as wooden rather than stoic, and the long flowing grey beard he sports doesn't make up for it. King Triton acts like he's stoned half the time rather than merely aloof, and the scenes between them and Ariel are more stilted than emotional, and are the weakest moments of the film.
Creating under the sea
Disney
"The Little Mermaid" also dazzles us with vivid underwater sequences full of realistic-looking fish, sea turtles, manta rays, and other sea creatures. Everything is multi-colored and bright, the world is lively, and the mermaids are equally so. When we first dive down early on in the film, the movie reminds us living under the ocean is full of wonder, and we revisit this wonder throughout the film, especially in the rendition of "Under the Sea."
Ursula's lair also delivers on being a spookily stark contrast to Ariel's undersea world, as it should. And while some of the released images suggested that some scenes might be too gosh-darned dark (a common problem these days), everything looked right to my eyes when watching on the big screen. My only critique of the depiction of the mermaid world, in fact, is that while we welcomingly see mer-people of every race, we see no mermaids or mermen in larger bodies, something that was disheartening given the creative team clearly want to create a mer-world that is inclusive.
As for the land-lubber scenes, the island kingdom could have been an afterthought in a film centered around a mermaid, but there was no skimping here. Everything from the village market Ariel and Eric visit to the castle with its tiled walls and airy hallways made you feel like you were in some place tropical.
Old songs and new
Giles Keyte/Disney
Disney's "The Little Mermaid" wouldn't be Disney's "The Little Mermaid," however, without the songs. As previously mentioned, the original songs found in the live-action version are fantastic — several in the audience, including me, applauded after both "Part of Your World" and "Under the Sea"— and there's no doubt those renditions will be in regular rotation in millions of households in the years to come.
The movie also contains some new songs, with lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, with varying success. One song that Ariel "sings" when she first makes it to land sans voice, is a fun addition, while others — such as Eric's ballad and a rap between Scuttle and Sebastian — don't fare as well (though hearing Diggs, who also starred in Miranda's first Broadway run of "Hamilton," rap as a crab has its perks).
Overall, however, 2023's "The Little Mermaid" is well worth the watch. I've no doubt that it will become an indelible part of many a young person's childhood, and I can't wait to watch it with my daughter.
/Film score: 7.5 out of 10
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Post by veu on May 22, 2023 15:23:17 GMT -5
Source: thedisinsider.com/2023/05/22/the-little-mermaid-review-a-fin-tastic-start-to-the-summer-blockbuster-season/‘The Little Mermaid’ REVIEW: A Fin-tastic Start to the Summer Blockbuster Season Amber Oelkers May 22, 2023 6 min read
Disney is making waves with the newest entry into their live-action catalogue, ‘The Little Mermaid’. The 1989 adaptation of ‘The Little Mermaid’ is widely regarded as one of Disney’s best animated features, the film that ushered in the Disney Renaissance, and has an active and passionate fan following as big as the seven seas. It made perfect sense to be the next film receiving the live-action treatment (unlike some other recently announced films).
As a child of the ‘90s, I grew up with ‘The Little Mermaid’ on VHS but was never as obsessed with it as some of my generation are. So, when the film was announced seven years ago, I went about business as usual, not knowing the utter chaos that would ensue on social media over every detail of this film.
Throughout my time at The DisInsider, I’ve noticed we get asked about ‘The Little Mermaid’ more than anything else. Parks news, new animated films, everything else takes a backseat to Ariel. So now comes the billion-dollar question: Is ‘The Little Mermaid’ actually good, or did Disney take yet another childhood classic and turn it into something so bad it almost taints the original. Without further ado, I’m pleased to say that not only is ‘The Little Mermaid’ a fin-tastic film, but also the pinnacle of the live-action remakes, and may be the rare live-action adaptation that is better than its animated counterpart.
The Characters It’s hard to picture the perfect person who can fit the fins and take over for Jodi Benson, but I can happily say that, even though it’s cliche, Halle Bailey IS Ariel. Bailey brings the same joy and exuberance to the role that Benson did, but with a new warmth and depth that truly makes you feel what it’s like to be 16 again and longing to make your own mark on the world, whatever that may be. Vocal-wise, she’s the perfect successor to Benson; at times, they sound exactly alike. Her rendition of “Part of Your World” has a quiet power to it and reminded me just how beautiful films can be when studios cast for who is right for the role, not looking for big names or wanting to fit a type-cast.
Melissa McCarthy is devilishly wonderful as Ursula. She balances paying homage to Pat Carroll and making this role uniquely hers perfectly. When she’s on the screen, it feels like she already controls the ocean. I only wish there was more of her in the film; she’s a commanding presence when we get her, but in the back half of the story, she’s barely featured.
‘The Little Mermaid’ is undoubtedly Bailey’s film, but Jonah Hauer-King’s Prince Eric is my personal favorite character from this adaptation. This film turns Eric from a generic Disney love interest a la Snow White’s Prince into a fully realized young adult who wants more from life than what is expected of him. Hauer-King’s performance is heartfelt and emotional, pulling audiences in with not just the baby blue of his eyes, but the soul you can feel from them. Eric is given his own “I Want” song that’s traditionally given to the main protagonist of Disney films, a surprising addition that proves this is as much Eric’s story and journey of self-discovery as it is Ariel’s.
Whereas most of the cast shines, Javier Bardem’s King Triton falls flat. His almost stoic portrayal of the character is a stark contrast to the passions of the rest of the film. When the king of the seven seas rages, it should be a force so powerful it can be felt throughout the entirety of the ocean, but during the destruction of Ariel’s hideout, I felt nothing at all. Bardem and Bailey developed a close relationship during filming, however, you wouldn’t know it from their performance together.
The Spectacle For those concerned that ‘The Little Mermaid’ would be as dark as the ocean’s depth, fear not. This film is an explosion of color from start to finish.
Rather than on an indiscriminate piece of land, this adaptation ingeniously places the above-water kingdom in the Caribbean. The vibrancy of island life shines through the entirety of Ariel’s time on land, and successfully creates a world that would entice Ariel to leave behind all she’s known. All the new songs for this remake take place on land, further adding to the attraction of life above the sea; though, life under the sea is nothing to squawk at.
While Daveed Diggs’ version of “Under the Sea” takes to the second chorus to really get going, the visuals are simply stunning. The sheer variety of marine life featured is astounding, and the CGI is cleaner than most of Disney’s output of late (no, this bar isn’t high, but they still pole-vaulted it in my opinion). The film spent the majority of its development in post-production; it was time well spent.
The Differences One problem people have been having with Disney’s live-action remakes is that they’re shot for shot the same film as the original, and at that point, what is the point of making a new adaptation anyway? ‘The Little Mermaid’ does share many scenes with the 1989 film, but it expands upon them in ways that give this version meaning.
Most of the additions in this film are welcome – from expanding Ariel and Eric’s relationship from infatuation at first sight to a true depiction of friendship and love developing from shared interests, to Eric’s mother the queen, and actually stating why King Triton so despises the surface world. The expanded runtime of the film lets it touch on so many unanswered questions from the original and helps create a more immersive world without taking so much time for exposition and backstory that it feels as if you’re being dragged to the bottom of the ocean.
Ariel is also given a second solo song in the film, “For the First Time”, where she sings about her initial experience on land. It’s a beautiful and honest account of what it feels like to be in a whole new world and the excitement and nervousness that come with it.
The only difference from the original film that stands out in a negative manner is Scuttle’s new song, “The Scuttlebutt”. Perfect name aside, it reeks of Disney’s desire to modernize only through the inclusion of rap, and is so drastically different from the rest of the songs in the movie that it feels out of place. Lin Manuel-Miranda’s lyrics are catchy, and the song flows nicely, but Awkwafina’s delivery had me wishing she was just squawking the entire time instead. Will little kids love this song? Yes. Will it be all over TikTok this summer? Yes. Is it actually a good song? No. Thankfully this sequence is only two minutes long, and the banter between Scuttle and Sebastian makes this at least tolerable, even if it left me feeling as awkward as Ariel does during this scene.
Conclusion Going into this film, I didn’t know what I was getting into. I went in with low expectations because that’s what I’ve come to expect from the caliber of Disney’s films of late. I was not expecting to fall in love with Ariel and Eric, have Eric’s song stuck in my head on a loop, or be counting down the days until the film is released so I can see it again.
‘The Little Mermaid’ has everything that diehard fans of the original would want to see in a new adaptation, while providing enough new content to more than justify its creation. Hopefully this remake can re-launch an era of top-quality Disney films, as its predecessor did. Whether or not it will is up to audiences, but either way, this movie is a great addition to Walt Disney Studios filmography.
On land or under the sea, I just loved being part of this world.
‘The Little Mermaid’ premieres in theaters on Friday, May 26th.
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Post by veu on May 24, 2023 3:13:57 GMT -5
Italian review: it.ign.com/la-sirenetta/202638/review/la-sirenetta-la-recensioneLa Sirenetta La Sirenetta - Recensione In fondo al mar (reprise).
di Andrea Peduzzi
Pubblicato: Mercoledì 24 Maggio 2023 09:13
LA RECENSIONE IN BREVE
David Magee firma una sceneggiatura solida ma decisamente classica, che non si prende troppe licenze rispetto al film originale. Ascoltare (e canticchiare) certe canzoni fa sempre piacere, pure a distanza di tanti anni. Visivamente il film vive di alti e bassi, ma soprattutto non trova una quadra tra le sequenze sottomarine e quelle ambientate in superficie.
Quando, nel 1989, La Sirenetta emerse nelle sale cinematografiche, il sottoscritto - dall’alto dei suoi dodici anni scarsi - si sentiva evidentemente troppo maturo per spararsi una storia da bambini, peraltro animata, mentre nella sala a fianco passavano sciccherie “da grandi” tipo Indiana Jones e l'ultima crociata, Batman e Ritorno al futuro - Parte II. Di contro, e fortunatamente, non mi feci i medesimi problemi nel 1992, quando finalmente recuperai il film in questione grazie all’uscita in videocassetta, apprezzandolo praticamente sotto ogni aspetto: dall’animazione alla trama, passando per la colonna sonora ovviamente adattata in italiano, dato che all’epoca era non dico impossibile, ma senz’altro eroico andare in cerca delle versioni originali.
Ma tornando al 1989, l’opera diretta da Ron Clements e John Musker ebbe il merito non da poco di inaugurare il cosiddetto "Rinascimento Disney", dopo un periodo di vacche magre cominciato negli anni Settanta e protrattosi fino ai primi anni Ottanta, quando Taron e la pentola magica (che, a scanso di equivoci, resta un film pieno di fascino) fece pesantemente flop al punto da non rientrare nemmeno dei quarantaquattro e rotti milioni di dollari spesi dalla produzione.
Grazie al successo del film, in ogni caso, a Burbank si ripresero alla grande sfornando in sequenza altri capolavori del calibro de La bella e la bestia, Aladdin e Il re leone, tutti quanti oltretutto già passati per il trattamento in semi live-action (ci arriviamo dopo) applicato da Disney ai propri classici, e al quale non poteva certamente esimersi proprio La Sirenetta, disponile da oggi nelle sale in versione remake.
Same old story
Stavolta la regia è stata affidata a Rob Marshall, autore a proprio agio con i musical in via di Chicago, sì, ma assai meno pratico di roba marittima per colpa del quarto Pirati dei Caraibi, forse il meno riuscito della serie; lato sceneggiatura, invece, c’è di mezzo David Magee (Vita di P), il quale ha reinterpretato e arricchito il racconto di Clements a sua volta tratto da quello di Andersen che al mercato mio padre comprò. Lo saprete certamente, ma ve lo dico lo stesso: nella versione italiana del film, Sebastian ha la voce di Mahmood.
Anche stavolta la trama ruota attorno alla cara, vecchia Ariel (Halle Bailey), sirenetta insofferente alle costrizioni del padre (Javier Bardem) e decisamente incuriosita dalla vita in superficie, al punto da sacrificare la propria natura sull’altare della perfida Ursula (Melissa McCarthy) per inseguire l’amore del principe Eric (Jonah Hauer-King: nomen omen); come da tradizione delle storie magiche ci sono poi di mezzo alcuni aiutanti - il granchio Sebastian, il pesciolino Flounder e la sula Scuttle - e, soprattutto, una sòla: se la protagonista non riuscirà a strappare un bacio al suo amato nel giro di tre giorni, rimarrà per sempre in balìa della strega del mare.
In termini narrativi La Sirenetta si muove sul tradizionale, lontano quindi dalle interpolazioni postmoderne à la Alice in Wonderland e più sulla falsariga, semmai, de La bella e la bestia; come già accennato, alla base del lavoro di Magee ci sono la sceneggiatura del 1989 e il racconto di Andersen (sto evitando accuratamente di definirlo fiaba perché fiaba non è, mentre io sono senz’altro un gran trombone), a sua volta ricavato da due motivi folclorici classici: da una parte quello della sirena, ovviamente, e dall’altra "la falsa sposa", dove tipicamente una bugiarda - Ursula, nella versione Disney - tenta di sostituirsi all’amante designata. Melissa McCarthy nei panni di Ursula riesce totalmente credibile.
Sempre alla tradizione popolare appartengono altri elementi della trama, vedi il patto diabolico e relativo rituale, la legge della triplicazione (tre sono gli aiutanti, tre pure i giorni utili per farsi baciare), mentre il potere seduttivo della voce di Ariel proviene direttamente dalle sue "antenate" mitologiche; questa connotazione, in via della flessibilità intrinseca alle fonti, faceva il suo sporco lavoro nel film di Clements intrecciandosi alla sensibilità di fine Ottanta, e lo svolge anche qui, amplificando la vocazione ambientalista e spingendo maggiormente su una dinamica convergente dove sia Ariel che Eric presentano fin da subito le medesime tensioni escapistiche, nonché insofferenza verso status quo che negano la comunione tra culture differenti.
Il canto della sirena
Pipponi a parte, il racconto nel complesso funziona, così come la colonna sonora che riprende quella composta a suo tempo da Alan Menken e Howard Ashman suonando pezzi come La Sirenetta, La canzone di Ursula, Baciala e, naturalmente, la celeberrima In fondo al mar, alla quale si aggiungono reprise e brani nuovi di zecca quali Acque inesplorate, Per la prima volta e Il grande scoop, legati a altrettanti momenti inediti del film; anche le coreografie non sono male - nonostante un montaggio un po’ incostante - e ne approfittano per rileggere alcuni momenti "plastici" dell’originale.
A non avermi convinto troppo, di contro, sono stati alcuni aspetti della messa in scena: ora, premesso che riguardo questi adattamenti Disney tira in ballo i live-action (l’ho ben detto che ci sarei tornato) quando sarebbe più sensato parlare di tecnica mista, considerato che l’animazione in CGI e gli effetti visivi riempiono buona parte delle inquadrature; premesso questo, comunque, ho notato una certa dissonanza tra le parti sottomarine e certe in superficie, laddove le prime, pur lontane anni luce dall’ultimo Avatar (Voto: 8.2 - Recensione), tendono a funzionare abbastanza bene fluidificando oltretutto gli elementi sovrannaturali del film e rendendo giustizia al lavoro su costumi, trucco e parrucco.
Le seconde, invece, mostrano una certa indecisione tra pretese di realismo - La Sirenetta, vale la pena segnalarlo, è ambientato nei Caraibi di metà Ottocento - e momenti in odore di villaggio vacanze pure al netto delle circostanze da musical.
La mancata risoluzione genera un’identità visiva debole se non apertamente kitsch, soprattutto quando i due mondi entrano in collisione, vedi il finale; il problema è che proprio questa identità rappresenta - o dovrebbe rappresentare - la chiave di volta dell’intera operazione, considerato che siamo di fronte a un remake live-action ma in fondo non poi così live-action eccetera eccetera. Poi, sì, nel piatto restano pur sempre la trama solida, una manciata di belle musiche e alcune interpretazioni interessanti (McCarthy è un’eccellente Ursula): non poco, certamente, ma per qualcuno potrebbe suonare insufficiente.
Verdetto
Attorno ai cosiddetti adattamenti live-action dei classici Disney ci sarebbe da costruire un discorso complesso discriminando eventualmente tra le opere destinate al passaggio in sala e quelle direct-to-video, con relative differenze di scala, per poi entrare nel merito degli autori laddove, a oggi, con l’eccezione di Kenneth Branagh i risultati più interessanti sono stati inversamente proporzionali al blasone del regista. In quest’ottica La Sirenetta funziona meglio, ad esempio, rispetto al Dumbo di Burton o all’Aladdin di Ritchie, forse anche “per merito” della personalità meno dirompente di Marshall, evidentemente capace di stare al gioco senza strafare; di contro, per quanto gradevole a livello narrativo e musicale (sì, anche in italiano, con buona pace dei detrattori di Mahmood), il film tende a incartarsi sul visivo, mancando l’integrazione tra sequenze sottomarine e certe in superficie.
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Post by veu on May 24, 2023 12:09:33 GMT -5
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/the-little-mermaid-halle-bailey-disney-review/?fbclid=IwAR37n-J7pTW8qSTv82MSTgSyZUUdgdui4dFelriZPJY17-jXW8rqqltwNqgReview The Little Mermaid, review: an exciting, enveloping remake that deserves to make a splash 4/5
Halle Bailey brings charm and vocal power to Rob Marshall's excellent reboot of the Disney classic, never mind some bizarre special effects By Alex Diggins 22 May 2023 • 2:04pm
Halle Bailey in The Little Mermaid Credit: Disney/AP
My favourite little mermaid is in London’s Horniman Museum. A little under two feet long, it’s a nightmarish amalgamation of teeth, scale and hair. Once owned by the American showman PT Barnum, it looks like you might dredge it from the bath plug after an energetic plunging session.
This woebegone curio is sadly not the inspiration for Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Instead, Rob Marshall’s new film is a live-action remake of the 1989 cartoon, which starred Jodi Benson as the shell-bikinied mermaid Ariel who must find love with landlubber Prince Eric to throw off a curse and her father’s tyrannical control.
It’s the studio’s latest attempt to reimagine its stable of beloved, but troublesome, classics. These rehashes haven’t been altogether successful, ranging from the pleasant but pointless (2016’s The Jungle Book) to the pointless and childhood-scarring – Tim Burton’s dour, steampunk Dumbo being a notable example.
Happily, The Little Mermaid comfortably leaps clear of the lot. It serves as a handsome homage while persuasively making the case as its own discrete entity. This time, Ariel is played by 23-year-old singer Halle Bailey. With five Grammy nominations, she brings an unarguable emotional force to the musical numbers, filling them with blustery yearning. On screen, too, she has genuine star wattage, outshining Jonah Hauer-King’s Prince Eric.
In support, Daveed Diggs and Awkwafina are good value as Ariel’s bickering friends, the crab Sebastian and gannet Scuttle. And as King Triton, Javier Bardem bobs and glowers with all the gravitas you’d expect from a man who once made a pudding-bowl haircut terrifying.
The film, though, belongs to Melissa McCarthy’s Ursula. She plays the cephalopod sea witch as Cruella de Vil meets New York mobster – Tony Soprano with tentacles. Her scheming showpiece, Poor Unfortunate Souls, is a joy.
Scored by Alan Menken, who also composed for the cartoon, the music doesn’t stray too far from fan-pleasing familiarity. Yet Lin-Manuel Miranda’s presence adds a welcome rap and steel-pan funk to the otherwise decorous soundtrack. I’d have liked some of the scale he brought to the choreography in films such as In the Heights; despite almost endless CGI possibilities, The Little Mermaid’s dance sequences feel a trifle muted.
Melissa McCarthy as cephalopod sea witch Ursula, in The Little Mermaid Credit: Disney/AP
Prior to release, there were various news headlines. The idea of a young black actress playing a mythical sea monster generated pufferfish-like outrage in certain corners of the internet. There was also the notion that the dialogue contained a coded insult to the Royal Family.
My one issue is the film’s grafting of live-action faces onto virtual sea-creatures. While the effect is not quite as disconcerting as it was in Tom Hooper’s disastrous Cats, it is still unsettling. Yet in the end, The Little Mermaid gets itself most into hot water with its uncomfortable grafting of live-action faces onto virtual sea-creature bodies. It’s not quite the Cats-esque horrorshow early footage seemed to portend – but we are well up uncanny valley without a paddle. Bardem’s King Triton is the worst offender, his hair and beard wafting in a way no substance has ever moved underwater: he looked more human when he had suckers sprouting from his face in Pirates of the Caribbean. Perhaps there’s just something about tentacles – the sight of McCarthy’s invertebrate wall-crawling will chill for a while.
In the main, though, the fusion works well. The digital imagery gives the action sequences an enveloping splendour and prickling thrill. (In fact, it may be too scary for some young viewers: the little girl next to me crawled into her mother’s lap during Ursula’s introduction.) Married to new music and its charming lead, The Little Mermaid justifies its shiny revisioning. After years of drift, it feels as though Disney has finally stumbled onto firm ground. Truly: life is (mostly) better under the sea.
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Post by veu on May 25, 2023 14:19:17 GMT -5
Source: www.vanityfair.it/article/sirenetta-film-remake-live-action-recensione?utm_source=twitter&utm_social-type=owned&utm_medium=social&utm_brand=vanity-fair-itLa Sirenetta, un remake-fotocopia con una grande attrice Il live action firmato Disney è un po' come quello del Re Leone: uguale all'originale con aggiunte superflue. Peccato, perché Halle Bailey nei panni della protagonista e Melissa McCarthy in quelli di Ursula sono strepitose. La recensione
DI HILLARY BUSIS
25 MAGGIO 2023
La sirenetta (quella del 1989) si apre con la vita e la musica: gabbiani che gracchiano, delfini giocosi, una maestosa fanfara di Alan Menken che prepara il terreno per una favola irresistibile. Trentasei anni dopo, il regista Rob Marshall sceglie invece di iniziare il suo remake del 2023 del classico Disney con onde tumultuose e una lugubre citazione direttamente dalla fiaba originale di Hans Christian Andersen: «Una sirena non ha lacrime», recita, «e quindi soffre molto di più».
Con un inizio del genere, ci si aspetterebbe che il film di Marshall si discostasse radicalmente dal materiale di partenza: che fosse magari una versione sovversiva ma per famiglie di The Northman, più Roald Dahl (o almeno Tim Burton) che Walt Disney. Mi piange il cuore comunicare che non è così. Al contrario, la nuova Sirenetta somiglia molto al nuovo La bella e la bestia, al nuovo Aladdin e soprattutto al nuovo Il re leone: un mix inquietante di materiale fotocopia e aggiunte superflue presentato in live action che sembra (ed è) artificiale come Saetta McQueen. Per un’ora e mezza è anche divertente, finché non ci si rende conto che mancano ancora 40 minuti di film.
Il cuore del film, almeno, è nel posto giusto. Le sette figlie di Re Tritone (un pomposo Javier Bardem) sono state ripensate come membri di un’Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite oceanica che non sopportano che gli esseri umani gettino sempre la loro spazzatura in mare. L’isola natale dell’aitante principe Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) è raffigurata come un vivace regno caraibico. Inoltre, il film ha scelto Halle Bailey come protagonista, una decisione che ha immediatamente scatenato un’indignazione razzista e reazionaria dai peggiori angoli di Internet.
Bailey non merita il vetriolo, non solo perché non lo meriterebbe nessuno, ma anche perché è perfetta per il ruolo di Ariel: indifesa, espressiva, con quegli occhioni sbarrati che la fanno sembrare ultraterrena anche quando scruta la terraferma. Vedendola recitare, si capisce perché Marshall e il suo team abbiano deciso di affidare ad Ariel un paio di nuove canzoni (scritte da Menken e dal veterano Disney Lin-Manuel Miranda), ed è un peccato che passi tanto tempo senza sentire la bellissima voce di Bailey.
Come molte delle modifiche apportate al remake, però, queste canzoni sembrano destinate a risolvere problemi che in realtà non sono mai esistiti. È importante che Ariel non parli per metà del film, dopo aver fatto un patto con la perfida Ursula (Melissa McCarthy)? No, se tutta la storia si esaurisce in 83 minuti. Qualcuno nel 1989 si è davvero distratto chiedendosi perché Ariel non scrivesse semplicemente una lettera a Eric in cui spiegava la situazione? Il nuovo film si premura di evitare questo «buco nella trama», non facendo firmare ad Ariel alcun contratto e aggiungendo uno sciocco parametro supplementare all’incantesimo di Ursula. A chi interessa la storia di Eric, o la sua famiglia? A quanto pare, alla nuova Sirenetta, che infatti gli dà entrambe le cose (sua madre, la regina, è interpretata dalla sempre grande Noma Dumezweni), oltre a un malinconico assolo su una spiaggia spazzata dal vento come «Agony», dall’adattamento Disney del 2014 di Into the Woods di Marshall, ma interpretato bene.
Anche Ursula è stata parzialmente ammorbidita grazie a un pizzico di motivazione in più (ora è la sorella invidiosa di Tritone, anziché una tizia arrabbiata qualunque coi tentacoli) e privata del verso più malvagio che Howard Ashman aveva scritto per Povere anime sfortunate, il cui testo, a quanto pare, sarebbe stato tagliato perché troppo sessista. (Non importa che Ursula «stia chiaramente manipolando Ariel per farla rinunciare alla propria voce» quando afferma con insistenza che gli uomini umani non sopportano le donne loquaci, come ha osservato Menken in un’intervista a Vanity Fair America lo scorso marzo). Fortunatamente, questi piccoli aggiustamenti non rovinano il personaggio: l’interpretazione sorniona e amorale di McCarthy è di gran lunga la parte migliore del film. Ogni volta che c’è lei sullo schermo, il film sembra finalmente… be’, animato.
Lo stesso non si può dire per il resto delle sequenze subacquee di Marshall, che sono tecnicamente accurate ma emotivamente insipide. L’originale In fondo al mar era uno spettacolo sensazionale che aveva portato i film di animazione disegnati a mano a nuove vette; quello del remake, invece, è più lungo e meno ammaliante, nonostante i movimenti delle creature marine cinetiche che a quanto pare sarebbero stati coreografati con l’aiuto della Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation. Dire che sembra uno screensaver sarebbe ingiusto nei confronti di alcuni dei migliori screensaver. È un sollievo quando Ariel abbandona la sua grotta da accumulatrice compulsiva per la spiaggia di Eric: il film comincia a camminare solo quando lo fa la sua eroina, dopo un’ora di preparativi.
Le esigenze del mezzo hanno appiattito analogamente anche gli amici acquatici di Ariel. Un Flounder iperrealistico non può essere carino, per quanto entusiasmo Jacob Tremblay ci possa mettere. Daveed Diggs e Awkwafina sono perfetti nei panni del granchio Sebastian e dell’uccello tuffatore Scuttle, ma la dizione più di tanto non può fare quando viene dalla bocca e dagli occhi di ossidiana senza vita del fantoccio di un ventriloquo. A gravare sulla coppia è anche un rap estremamente imbarazzante intitolato The Scuttlebutt, un sostituto di Les Poissons destinato a essere memato nel dimenticatoio.
Non dimentichiamo che il remake del 2019 di Il re leone aveva tutti gli stessi problemi ed era ulteriormente ostacolato dalla completa mancanza di personaggi (per non parlare di volti) umani. Ebbene, quel film ha incassato più di 1,6 miliardi di dollari a livello globale, diventando il nono film di maggiore successo di tutti i tempi. Magari La sirenetta non farà tutti quei soldi, ma è difficile immaginare uno scenario in cui non sbanchi il botteghino, pesci dall’occhio spento o meno. Ancora una volta, si tratterà di una vittoria della proprietà intellettuale su qualsiasi altra cosa – per quanto, forse, di una vittoria di Pirro, dato che in casa Disney le scorte di progetti di cui realizzare remake cominciano a scarseggiare. Lo studio cinematografico vuole essere Sebastian, che guida una sfilza infinita di delizie esuberanti. Ma le sorelle di Ariel lo rimprovererebbero di spopolare il mare.
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Post by veu on May 25, 2023 14:26:20 GMT -5
Source: www.ilgiornale.it/news/cinema/sirenetta-arriva-cinema-mille-polemiche-davvero-film-non-2156207.htmlCinema La Sirenetta al cinema tra le polemiche: ma è un film che perde la magia Disney 24 Maggio 2023 - 10:05 Il grande cult della Disney del 1989 rivive sul grande schermo in un live-action che promette scintille, ma divide chi non accetta i cambiamenti fatti nella storia per piacere al politically correct
di Carlo Lanna
Tabella dei contenuti Una storia universale con una sirena nera Quella canzone ritenuta troppo scorretta Si può "replicare" la magia della Disney? Mahmood che presta la voce a Sebastian Il successo dello storico film animato C’erano anche due sequel e una serie tv L’immortale favola di Andersen
Da oltre due anni non si parla d’altro che del live-action de La Sirenetta. Lo storico film Disney a cartoni animati, arrivato nelle sale nel 1989 e che ha segnato per sempre la cinematografia dei più piccoli (e anche dei più grandi), rivive al cinema dal 24 maggio in un lungometraggio diretto da Rob Marshal (che tra l’altro ha lavorato anche al musical di Chicago). Il film, principalmente, ha catalizzato l’attenzione di sé perché è il lungometraggio che si è scontrato con il "revisionismo storico" del cinema di oggi e con il dilagare del politicamente corretto. Ci troviamo di fronte a tanti cambiamenti, rispetto al grande classico dell'animazione che in molti hanno amato. Prima di tutto, Ariel diventa una sirena nera.
La Sirenetta non è di certo il primo - e non sarà neanche l’ultimo dei film Disney - che ha scatenato accese polemiche, dato che la casa di produzione sembra aver scelto di abbracciare la strada del politicamente corretto. Questo crea una frattura non solo tra i puristi dei classici Disney, ma anche tra chi non vede la necessità di infilare i valori della woke culture ovunque e senza ragione. I risultanti esaltanti ma non troppo al botteghino, inevitabilmente, mettono in moto una serie di considerazioni: dimostra che spingere e calvalcare l'onda del politicamente corretto non sempre è una scelta vincente. Fin da quando è stato annunciato l’arrivo de La Sirenetta nei cinema, il film è stato travolto da una lunga scia di polemiche (e tutt'ora stanno infiammando il web). Nonostante ciò, ad oggi, La Sirenetta è sulla bocca di tutti e si preannuncia uno dei film più discussi della stagione estiva. Ma merita di essere visto?
Una storia universale con una sirena nera Dalle apparenze, di nuovo c’è ben poco. La favola della Sirenetta resta sempre la stessa, ma è il modo e le intenzioni finali che sono cambiate. Ariel sogna ancora di vivere sulla terra e di trovare l’amore, ma è osteggiata da un padre che la vorrebbe ad Atlantide e al suo fianco. Fino a quando una terribile strega del mare di nome Ursula non propone un patto alla giovane Ariel: la sua voce in cambio di una vita tra gli esseri umani. Ma niente è oro ciò che luccica. Una storia che nella sua anima non cambia il vestito, anzi a dare uno sguardo dal trailer e dalle prime immagine trapelare in rete, il film è perfetto dal punto di vista dello stile e della regia. Tanto da riprodurre molto fedelmente l’immagine del cartone animato ma, in quell'ottica di cambiamenti sociali e culturali, La Sirenetta non è più la stessa che ha fatto sognare migliori di bambine in tutto il mondo. Ariel, come dicevamo, non ha più i capelli rosso fuoco, lisci e con il "frangettone" impomatato. Non ha la pelle bianca ma è nera. Un cambio di rotta che ha trasformato la favola che tutti conosciamo in qualcos'altro, focalizzando l'attenzione non solo su un amore che vince su tutto. Halle Baily è la nuova Ariel che, secondo la stampa americana, convince nel ruolo della nuova Sirenetta. Melissa McMarthy – la celebre Sookie di Una mamma per amica – è Ursula. Il film in sé? Dalle prime recensioni in pochi hanno apprezzato l'esperimento.
Quella canzone ritenuta troppo scorretta Nell’arco di questi ultimi due anni il pubblico ancora non è riuscito a accettare la nuova immagine di Ariel, e allo stesso tempo, alla luce di alcune dichiarazioni che sono trapelate in rete, non riesce proprio a capire il motivo per cui anche alcune canzoni (e una in particolare) sono state modificate in corso d’opera. In una recente intervista, rimbalzata in rete come una scheggia, il compositore Alan Menken ha svelato di aver cambiato alcune parole della celebre "Baciala": la canzone era ritenuta una sorta di "inno" a compiere un atto contro il consenso di Ariel. Per questa assurda polemica la canzone è stata cambiata, mettendo l'accento sul fatto che Eric non stia facendo nulla contro la volontà della protagonista. Sull’argomento si è accesa una lunga polemica sui social, e in molti non hanno per nulla apprezzato la scelta di revisionare le canzoni, proprio perché, anche la più piccola modifica, snatura il senso stesso delle parole.
Si può "replicare" la magia della Disney? Di sicuro La Sirenetta è un film che farà molto parlare di sé, ma non è detto che possa essere una tattica vincente. La Disney guarda al nostro presente e cavalca un dibattito politico e sociale molto acceso per cercare di insersi in un contesto più ampio, riproponendo i cult del passato sotto un’altra forma. Se non fosse per questa ossessione per il revisionismo, il fenomeno potrebbe anche essere convincente, ma non è così. Quasi (o forse nessuno) di questi film che arrivano sul grande schermo non riescono a conservare la magia disneyana e quel senso di innocenza che aveva caratterizzato i film a cartoni animati. Ed è questa la perdita maggiore e la sconfitta più grande. La Disney era la casa delle idee, dei sogni, la patria dei buoni sentimenti e dove tutto era possibile. Quello che stiamo vendendo è un prodotto che non può essere messo a paragone con il passato. Di quello che è stato c’è ben poco. Ora è rimasto solo il ricordo e, forse, almeno il ricordo lo si deve preservare.
Mahmood che presta la voce a Sebastian Novità di questo live action è la presenza di Mahmood. Il vincitore del Festival di Sanremo per la prima volta si cimenta come doppiatore e presta la sua voce al piccolo e simpatico Sebastian. "La Sirenetta non è solo una favola. Per me è una storia che ha regalato sogni – rivela il cantante durante la conferenza stampa con i giornalisti -. Quando è uscita al cinema ci fu una rottura rispetto alle fiabe tradizionali. Lei per riuscire a vivere getta via la voce e io da musicista faccio fatica a pensarlo – aggiunge -. Però a volte per realizzare i propri sogni è opportuno toccare il fondo".
Il successo dello storico film animato Nato dopo l’incredibile successo Chi ha incastrato Roger Rabbit, arrivato nei cinema nel 1998, La Sirenetta è riuscita a cavalcare quel successo con agilità e caparbietà. Ha avuto il merito di aver infuso nuova vita all'arte dei film d'animazione Disney, dopo una serie di fallimenti commerciali prodotti fin dai primi anni settanta, dando inizio all'era nota come il "Rinascimento Disney". La Sirenetta venne originariamente progettato come parte di uno dei primi film di Walt Disney, un film biografico a tecnica mista sulla vita di Hans Christian Andersen e sulle sue fiabe più famose. Il progetto venne iniziato nel '39 ma venne cancellato nel '42 a causa di vari problemi, principalmente perché gran parte degli animatori Disney si arruolarono nella Seconda Guerra Mondiale.Nell’85 fu il regista di Basil, l’investigatopo a leggere con attenzione la fiaba originale e a proporre una nuova versione. Fu presentato come film per ragazze ma, alla fine, ha segnato un’intera generazione.
C’erano anche due sequel e una serie tv Forse in pochi sono a conoscenza che su La Sirenetta ci sono ben due film animati, distribuiti solo in home video, e una serie tv che a metà anni ’90 è arrivata su Canale 5. Con il titolo La Sirenetta – Ritorno agli abissi si racconta la storia della figlia di Ariel e di Eric che sogna il mare e non la terra ferma. A cui si aggiunge il prequel dal titolo Come tutto ebbe inizio che mette in scena la vita di Ariel prima di conoscere Eric. Le nuove avventure marine di Ariel, invece, è una serie che andata in onda per 3 anni – dal ‘92 al ‘94 – e la trama è ambientata prima degli eventi nel film del 1989, e segue le avventure di Ariel che vive ancora con suo padre, Sebastian il granchio e Flounder.
L’immortale favola di Andersen Tutto questo non sarebbe mai potuto accadere senza la storia, pubblicata nel 1837, di Andersen. Lì non ci sono sirene di colore ma la fiaba si sottopone a molte interpretazioni. Qui più che altrove sono identificabili i riferimenti autobiografici, per quanto celati dietro la finzione fiabesca. Il tema del "diverso" viene presentato in relazione al contesto amoroso, e la relazione fra la Sirenetta - resa muta - e il bel principe che le si affeziona senza amarla, è stato interpretato come un ritratto della situazione di isolamento sentimentale a cui Andersen si sentiva relegato a causa della sua omosessualità (mai confermata).
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Post by veu on May 25, 2023 14:27:35 GMT -5
Source: www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2023/05/25/romantico-disinvolto-e-piu-adulto-del-previsto-il-film-disney-la-sirenetta-va-promosso/7172629/CINEMA Romantico, disinvolto e più “adulto” del previsto, il film Disney La Sirenetta va promosso
di Davide Turrini | 25 MAGGIO 2023
Su le palette per La Sirenetta. Romantico, disinvolto, più “adulto” del previsto, visivamente ricco e accattivante, musicalmente eclettico, La Sirenetta 2023, il film di Rob Marshall che rinverdisce lo storico brand Disney, non è affatto male. Poi certo peggio del classico del 1989, datata rimasticazione di quel tradizionalismo Disney ancora all’epoca poeticamente, culturalmente e a livello di disegno fermo alle pastoie antidiluviane Cenerentola-Biancaneve (pensate alla ripetitività dei personaggi di contorno), era difficile fare. Qui la sfida era duplice: aggiornare la dimensione dell’animazione (CGI spintissima che si mescola al live action) e insufflare nuova idealità e indipendenza al femminile per la protagonista Ariel, (Halle Bailey) sirenetta adolescente con la coda di pesce che vive in fondo al mare ma con la voglia matta, contrastata dal padre, il re Tritone (Javier Bardem), di incontrare e mimetizzarsi lassù nel cono di luce con gli umani.
Nella fattispecie il principe Eric (Jonah Hauer-King), rampollo di un casato marinaro, coraggioso marinaio che viene salvato da un naufragio proprio da Ariel. La storia comunque la sapete: lui rimane con stampigliato sulla fronte la faccina innamorata della sirenetta che ha intravisto mentre veniva posato zeppo di acqua nei polmoni sulla battigia incontaminata; lei si vede confermato con lode principesca il buon giudizio che già aveva sulla vita all’asciutto oltre la dimensione acquatica di famiglia. Ma di fronte all’ostile opposizione di babbo per risalire in superficie, Ariel disobbedisce e chiede aiuto alla malvagia strega, nonché zia Ursula (Melissa McCarthy) che la incatena ad un funesto incantesimo: potrai diventare umana con due piedini e gambine, ma se entro tre giorni non bacerai con amore (con la lingua, si diceva per essere spregiudicati da adolescenti) il principe tornerai negli abissi a scontare la tua pena.
Aiutata da un terzetto animale (il timido granchio Sebastian, la svampita sula Scuttle e l’ansioso pesciolino Flamber) Ariel risalirà l’oceano, verrà accolta a corte, vestita e riverita, ma nonostante l’amore con Eric scatti e parecchio, rimarrà intrappolata nella maledizione della perfida Ursula. Suddiviso sostanzialmente in due parti, pressappoco come per il tradizionale primo e secondo tempo, dicotomicamente prima nel basso dell’oceano poi nell’alto degli umani, il film di Marshall guizza abile tra fiaba e musical mescolando tempi scattanti e varianti narrative, affidandosi ad una impostazione generale di mescolanza tra effettistica in post (e pre) produzione con la recitazione classica degli attori. Appunto, l’accostamento, anzi proprio l’approccio fisico tra attori veri e personaggi animati (si veda su tutte la sequenza di Suttle che sale sulle gambe di Ariel) è cifra peculiare della Industrial Light and Magic e della Weta di Peter Jackson.
Per alcuni numeri musicali – Under the sea, ad esempio – oltre alla Bailey che ogni tanto scompare dietro ad una roccia siamo di fronte ad un fondale marino interamente inventato che bascula tra realismo alla National Geographic e ad una ispirata cifra cromatica da pittura romantica. Identico discorso, con sfumature dark e psichedeliche nel numero di presentazione della strega Ursula. Mentre se c’è qualcosa in cui difetta l’effettistica visiva è negli esterni giorno da mercatini caraibici dove le luminarie accese e il mix dei contrasti sovraccaricano l’insolazione da spiaggia con uno strano effetto neon. Ad ogni modo il risultato espressivo ne La sirenetta è più che discreto tanto che l’immagine è capace di rapire: ad esempio con la dolcezza vagamente retrò nel numero Kiss the girl durante il quale principe e sirena vagano innamorati su una barchetta in uno stagno angelico contornato da animaletti cantanti. Poi se nei mesi scorsi le polemiche sono state tutte per la scelta di colorare di afroamericano la sirenetta, che come da fiaba di Andersen originaria era bianca come un giglio, la scelta sfacciatamente politica della produzione Disney non crea alcuno scompiglio percettivo: da un lato perché la polemica in sé era parecchio cretina; dall’altro perché la Bailey recita con un fare così sognante, subisce le angherie con sincera fragilità che a nessuno interessa nemmeno per un secondo di che colore abbia la pelle. Semmai, e qui davvero siamo dalle parti dell’eccesso gratuito (provocazione? battuta? convinzione reale?) fa un po’ ridere che la mamma regina sia afroamericana e il figlio principe Eric sia bianco come un cencio.
La Sirenetta del resto si propone come racconto rivolto ad una attenta generazione Z, a qualche giovanissimo Millennials e non proprio ai vecchi Boomers (a cui venne propinato da adolescenti il brutto film del 1989): l’impianto drammaturgico segue pedissequamente la fiaba originaria, ma il coté di liberazione dalle tradizioni, quel “andate e cambiate il mondo” finale dei vecchi genitori regnanti ai giovani ri-mescolati sembra la riattualizzazione della saga reale di Harry e Meghan. Infine due note interessanti: l’utilizzo dei comprimari animali (pesci, uccelli, bestiole varie) è sagacemente orientato ad un rispetto etico di rara grazia (nel brano Under the sea i pesci sono felici di non finire “fritti in padella”), mentre il soundtrack composto da Alan Menken e Lin-Manuel Miranda mantiene il giusto equilibrio di un’ibridazione suono-parole tra tradizione disneyana e commercializzazione post moderna ma senza scadere nel rapper che scratcha (Daveed Diggs, la voce originale del granchio Sebastian, è cantante hip hop). Girato nei Pinewood studios di Londra e su alcune vere spiagge della Sardegna di cui non citiamo il nome. Avendole visitate e vedendo che non si riempiono nemmeno a Ferragosto è meglio finchè si può mantenerle il più protette possibile.
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Post by veu on May 25, 2023 14:40:03 GMT -5
Source: www.iodonna.it/spettacoli/cinema/2023/05/24/la-sirenetta-2023-film-disney-recensione-cast-halle-bailey-ariel-cantante-italiana-yana-c-mahmood-doppiatori/24 MAGGIO 2023 CINEMA “La Sirenetta” Halle Bailey sogna ancora in fondo al mar, ma senza la magia Disney Un remake del cartone classico sorprendentemente buio e spoglio di irriverenza (anche verbale) e comicità (soprattutto fisica) di CRISTIANO VITALI
Eliminiamo subito il grande impiccio contenuto in La Sirenetta: Halle Bailey se la cava bene grazie a un’espressività e un candore decisamente genuini. L’attrice e cantante nera (5 volte nominata ai Grammy Awards e al limite d’età per interpretare Ariel: 23 anni oggi; 20 quando lo ha girato) che ha avuto i fucili puntati dall’annuncio del ruolo nel remake del film d’animazione uscito nel 1989, può dunque stare serena. Quelli che volevano i capelli rossi e la pelle candida del cartone si guardassero il cartone. Gli altri, che altrettanto veementemente esprimevano dubbi sulla riuscita (e l’utilità) del live action (pratica abusata e non sempre redditizia per la Disney), torneranno di sicuro a guardarselo anche loro. Delusi da una versione copia incolla dell’originale (tranne 3 canzoni scritte da Lin-Manuel Miranda – anche produttore) desaturata anche in luminosità, come un film indipendente in cerca di premi.
La Sirenetta, la trama Copia incolla un’esagerazione? Per niente. Il film di Rob Marshall, specialista di musical (Chicago, Nine, Into the woods), ricalca in ogni dettaglio il film di Ron Clements e John Musker tratto dalla fiaba di Hans Christian Andersen. Ci sono le canzoni-Oscar di Alan Menken e Howard Ashman, il numero ipercinetico di In fondo al mar e Baciala, il caveau di oggetti fatti dagli umani di Ariel. C’è insomma la trama conosciuta di una sirenetta (aiutata dai fedelissimi Flounder, Sebastian e Scuttle), curiosa della superficie nonostante i divieti di papà Tritone (Javer Bardem), di cosa si provi a camminare, che si chiede cosa significhi mettere le mani sul fuoco e che usa le forchette come pettini.
E che salva il principe Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) da morte sicura, innamorandosene talmente tanto da accettare il ricatto di Ursula (Melissa McCarthy, in questa versione sorella di Tritone): barattare la voce per due gambe con cui riuscire a raggiungere e infine baciare Eric. Che si ricorda di una ragazza che lo ha salvato ma non sa se è Ariel, muta e pure smemorata sempre da Ursula per rendere le cose più difficili e fare in modo che la piccola, passati tre giorni, diventi prigioniera e arma di ricatto contro il fratello.
Spoiler, finisce benissimo. Il diverbio tra papà e figlia si appiana, un rapporto che in La Sirenetta 2023 acquista addirittura il lampo profondo di un’intesa matura, e la nuova coppia – con Ariel di nuovo umana – parte a cavallo di un’onda verso una crociera. Cosa fanno fare gli autori a Halle Bailey di diverso rispetto alla Ariel cartone? Invertono il salvataggio finale: è lei che salva lui, per la seconda volta. Forse per non cedere al cliché fiabesco del maschio che salva la donzella, anche se si tratterebbe di equo scambio.
Non è l’unico cambio in una versione fedele e allo stesso tempo opposta all’originale disneyano. Tutto il film è annebbiato da una generale atmosfera verista. L’oceano, questa cosa inquinata in modo irreversibile non può più essere quella cosa assurda di colori, nemmeno in una fiaba. Lo dice anche Tritone, qua continuano ad affondare galeoni con i loro carichi e in fondo al mare altro che balletti di triglie e balene, dobbiamo passare il tempo a ripulire tutto.
Che sia stata quindi l’attualità climatica a dare la cifra cromatica al film? Sta di fatto che i timori scoppiati quando uscì la prima clip del film, con Ariel nel suo rifugio a cantare «Come vorrei poter uscir fuori dall’acqua», erano fondati. È tutto molto spento, torbido, grigio, anche nei momenti di irruzione necessaria dei colori.
È la tragedia della computer grafica applicata a un live action che ha puntato sul principio fotorealistico. Su personaggi di fantasia creati in CGI partendo da modelli reali animati da burattinai. Solo che il remake di una cosa disegnata che non ha limiti plastici con una che invece ne ha non è proprio semplicissimo. Succede così che Halle-Ariel sottoacqua è credibile, mentre il tris di compari diventa un tris di animali che parlano e aiutano senza particolare meraviglia magica, tantomeno ridicola goffaggine.
Ne soffre particolarmente Flounder, che da pesce generico diventa un pesce tropicale basato sul pesce damigella. Qualcosa da ammirare in un acquario. Sebastian non se la passa meglio, un granchio che ora è molto granchio spiegato da Alberto Angela e molto poco il Sebastian dagli improvvisi spaventi inseguito dallo chef con accento francese (tagliato per non indignare l’Eliseo).
In superficie continua l’unità cromatica, l’ora luminosa del crepuscolo che abbatte glamour ed entusiasmo. Se c’era l’idea di una frizione tra un sopra più realistico e un sommerso fantastico, questa finisce con il controluce di Ariel che emerge umana dalle profondità buttando indietro i capelli: scena da poster. Finisce anche dando un’occhiata al castello di Eric, governato da mamma Selina (Noma Dumezweni, altra attrice nera), genericamente coloniale, vagamente antico.
A salvare la baracca ci pensano allora Halle e Jonah in amore, deliziosi e innocenti; Jonah particolarmente bravo nel riempire lo stampo usurato di un principe aitante e temerario, semplice e, grazie mille alla costumista Colleen Atwood, con camicia piratesca sempre aperta sul petto. Il look terrestre di La Sirenetta funziona meno: recuperare il fiocco gigantesco del 1989 poteva essere assurdo, ma una che è nata con la pinna la fascia per i capelli la può accettare giusto perché Ursula le ha tolto la memoria.
Ursula, la cattiva camp che non c’è Mica semplice rifare la cattiva Disney con corpo di piovra. Melissa McCarthy ci mette fisico e strabuzzamenti. Le proporzioni umane del live action non le permettono tuttavia di esplodere in quel capolavoro sgraziato che nel passato era la copia di Divine, drag queen musa di John Waters. Copiata anche nell’osceno come cifra di stile (nell’audio inglese originale definiva Ariel «that little tramp», non proprio traducibile con birichina).
È un vero peccato, primo perché come diceva Hitchcock «più riuscito è il cattivo, più il film è di successo». Secondo perché se l’ispirazione è ancora l’arte drag ma stavolta di matrice vaga («C’è una drag queen che vive in me», dice Melissa del suo personaggio), la sensazione è quella di un’irriverenza mitigata, anche nel make up. Non a caso preso in giro da molte drag queen per cui Ursula era sì un’appropriazione culturale, ma pure un’invasione di campo nel regno dei film per famiglie. Un atto terroristico dei disegnatori un secolo prima di RuPaul’s Drag Race. Un segnale in codice.
Oggi invece i codici sono scoperti. E i remake cadono sotto l’ambizione del rifacimento adeguato all’attualità che preme, sotto Billy Porter favolosa madrina genderless in Cenerentola con Camilla Cabello. Al risarcimento proporzionato e correttissimo, alla posa autocritica che forse posa non è degli attori che pare non c’abbiano mai creduto: Melissa che dice a Lizzo (cantante) «perché diavolo hanno preso me, allora?» saputo del suo provino.
Cantante e doppiatori italiani A dare le voci nella versione italiana di La Sirenetta sono la cantante Yana_C, Sara Labidi (doppiatrice), Simona Paticucci (attrice, cantante, doppiatrice e docente di doppiaggio) e Mahmood. Yana_C e Sara prestano le voci ad Ariel sia per le canzoni sia per i dialoghi canzoni, Simona torna invece a dare la voce a Ursula come aveva già fatto per il cartone animato.
Mahmood, oltre a doppiare Sebastian, interpreta le canzoni In fondo al mar, Baciala e Il grande scoop (una delle tre nuova canzoni assieme a Acque inesplorate (Wild Unchartered Waters), eseguita da Eric; Per la prima volta (For the First Time), eseguita da Ariel; e appunto scoop (The Scuttlebutt), eseguita da Scuttle e Sebastian.
Il singolo La Sirenetta (Part of your world) di Yana_C è disponibile sulle piattaforme digitali assieme alla colonna sonora del film, italiane e inglese.
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Post by veu on May 25, 2023 14:56:07 GMT -5
Source: www.bbc.com/culture/article/20230522-the-little-mermaid-review-a-spectacle-with-an-allure-and-vitality-of-its-ownThe Little Mermaid review: A fairytale 'for the age of Marvel movies'
By Caryn James 22nd May 2023
Being half-fish, half-human isn't quite a superpower, but Disney's live-action Little Mermaid reinvents the animated classic for the age of Marvel movies, complete with kinetic action scenes and an endless overload of CGI. Those sequences somehow have to coexist with Broadway-style belting of songs, elaborate choreography and revisions to adapt the film for contemporary sensibilities, so… whew! This Little Mermaid is a lot. But at its heart, it is the same girl-fish-out-of-water story, which has the great advantages of Halle Bailey as a captivating Ariel, Daveed Diggs as the perfect comic voice of Sebastian the crab, and songs from the 1989 original that have remained audience favourites for decades. The new Little Mermaid is uneven, but it is also a spectacle with an allure and vitality of its own.
Bailey has a big, crystalline voice and bravura delivery yet gracefully captures the passion beneath the words when she sings Part of Your World, about her longing to be on land. She is also a fine actor whose wide-eyed sincerity makes us believe that Ariel is enamoured of all things human, from a fork to Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King), whom she rescues from a shipwreck – fires on board, swelling waves, sailors leaping into the sea. Even her costume is just right, beautifully designed with light-blue iridescent scales and gossamer fins.
That world is colourful and, yes, as dark as the trailer suggests. It is, after all, a place without sunlight Ariel's father, King Triton (Javier Bardem), who believes all humans are vile, commands a rich undersea world, which director Rob Marshall has crammed with CGI turtles, dolphins, and all kinds of fish and coral life forms. That world is colourful and, yes, as dark as the trailer suggests. It is, after all, a place without sunlight.
Marshall's musical films include Chicago and Into the Woods, but he started out on Broadway, and there is an awkward stop-and-go motion to The Little Mermaid that echoes the way musical theatre often pauses to let a song take centre stage. Part of Your World, with the camera focused on Ariel alone, seems to beg for audience applause, and actually got it at my screening, as if Bailey could hear through the movie screen.
Diggs is a pure delight as Triton's advisor. Sebastian bows to the king with a wave of his claw and grumbles asides in his Caribbean accent. "College-educated crab," he says of himself when Triton assigns him to watch over Ariel instead of advising on state affairs. "I got options." Sebastian's Under the Sea is another extravaganza, the joyful Calypso song set against rows of animated sea creatures whose choreography is based on a collaboration with the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation.
There is logic to the breakdown of live action and animation here. Even half-humans are played by actors while everyone else is animated, including Ariel's friends Scuttle the bird (voiced by Awkwafina, given too few funny lines) and Flounder (Jacob Tremblay in a functional role). But if only we could have seen Diggs singing and dancing.
Melissa McCarthy plays the sea-witch Ursula with evil glee, but is constantly overwhelmed by bolts of light, her own flailing tentacles and other special effects, especially when offering Ariel her deal: grow legs, go above the sea and make Eric fall in love with her, but do it without a voice. Even without dialogue, Bailey makes her connection with Eric seem real, and Hauer-King gives Eric enough of a character, a prince with a social conscience, so that he's more than the usual bland Disney dreamboat.
The original songs by Alan Menken, with lyrics by the late Howard Ashman, are mostly intact, and the small changes are barely noticeable improvements. Kiss the Girl now says "Just ask her" instead of suggesting that Eric just go in for the kiss, and Ursula's Poor Unfortunate Souls no longer suggests that men prefer women who can't speak (even though the film is set in the 19th Century). The three new songs by Menken with lyrics by Lin Manuel-Miranda don't begin to measure up, though. A rap called The Scuttlebutt, which Awkwafina and Sebastian sing, is not great but at least it avoids the blandness of Eric's Wild Uncharted Waters and Ariel's For the First Time.
In true superhero fashion, the film feels padded. A dance scene on a beach and a carriage ride for Eric and Ariel stretch the running time to two hours and 15 minutes. In another unnecessary touch, Eric's mother the Queen (Noma Dumezweni) delivers a final, blunt message of unity, saying that the worlds of sea and land should live in harmony. The film's diverse casting has already made the point about unity, and done so much more eloquently. The Little Mermaid mostly avoids preaching, though. It remains what it always was: a charming, escapist fairy tale.
★★★☆☆
The Little Mermaid is on general release from 26 May.
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Post by veu on May 27, 2023 16:39:39 GMT -5
Source: www.ilgiornale.it/news/cinema/sirenetta-romantico-anelito-libert-nel-remake-disney-2158058.htmlIl film del weekend "La Sirenetta", romantico anelito alla libertà nel remake Disney 27 Maggio 2023 - 14:46 Un live-action che non si prende troppe licenze rispetto al film d’animazione originale e che ha nel fascino della sua protagonista e negli esterni girati in Sardegna i propri punti di forza
di Serena Nannelli
Con “La Sirenetta” prosegue il filone Disney di live-action ispirati a grandi successi del passato della casa di Topolino.
Il regista, Rob Marshall (Chicago, Memorie di una geisha), ha il merito di non aver lasciato naufragare un film di cui era davvero difficile reggere il timone per molteplici motivi. Prima di tutto c'era da gestire il disappunto internazionale legato alla scelta di una ragazza afroamericana come attrice protagonista, discostandosi molto quindi da qualsiasi versione precedente della favola. Subito dopo, il progetto è stato ostacolato dal sopraggiungere della pandemia. Infine, a livello tecnico, la sfida di rendere fluido il passaggio tra scene sottacqua e fuori dall'acqua era intrinsecamente notevole (e siamo lontani dall'incanto di Avatar).
Ariel (Halle Bailey) la più giovane delle figlie di Re Tritone (Javier Bardem), è affascinata dal mondo degli esseri umani e si spinge spesso in zone impervie del mondo sottomarino proprio per cercare indizi sulla vita in superficie. Perlustra infatti relitti alla ricerca di oggetti di cui le sfugge l’uso, ma che la fanno sognare abitudini terrestri. Un giorno disubbidisce al padre e si spinge fino a salvare un ragazzo caduto in mare durante un naufragio. Si scopre che è il principe Eric (Jonah Hauer-King), nel cui regno la sirenetta riuscirà a recarsi con l’aiuto della strega del mare.
Piccole modifiche alla storia originale cercano di rinfrescare quel che altrimenti apparirebbe come una pedissequa trasposizione di inquadrature dal linguaggio dell’animazione a quello del live-action.
Più kitsch che poetico e più lungo che ammaliante, il nuovo “La Sirenetta” perde colpi in particolare laddove si piega eccessivamente al politicamente corretto (vedi la realtà multirazziale delle sorelle di Ariel), e quando sfodera una computer grafica straniante per confezionare gli animaletti della storia. Il granchio Sebastian, il pesce Flouder e il gabbiano Scuttle, infatti, hanno fattezze che davvero mal si armonizzano a quelle degli umani che interagiscono con loro. Molto più riuscita la componente degli effetti speciali applicata sul personaggio di Ursula, il cui carisma è fulgido grazie alla sua interprete, Melissa McCarthy.
Se gli 83 minuti di durata de “La Sirenetta” versione cartoon diventano oggi, nel film con tecnica mista, ben 135, è anche grazie a piccole, blande aggiunte che vorrebbero rendere più moderna la vicenda. Da un lato l’attrazione tra Eric e Ariel non è più meramente estetica, bensì risiede in affinità elettive che scoprono di avere, come il piglio ribelle e il desiderio di scoprire culture e popoli sconosciuti. Entrambi poi appartengono a un mondo impaurito e ostile verso ciò che è diverso e hanno anche lo stesso tormentato rapporto con una figura genitoriale ingombrante: nel caso di Ariel è Tritone, qui spaventato dall’aver perduto la moglie in tragiche circostanze, mentre in quello di Eric è una sovrana di colore che lo ha adottato a seguito di un naufragio.
Ascoltare (e canticchiare) i celebri brani imparati a suo tempo nel film d’animazione ha un fascino che subisce una grossa battuta d'arresto nello spaventoso distacco tra il testo italiano e il labiale inglese.
A ben vedere, a mantenere una parvenza magica sono poche cose ancorché fondamentali. Da un lato l’espressività dolce e intensa dell’attrice protagonista, dall’altro l’orgoglio di vedere sul grande schermo location (in particolare la spiaggia di Rena Majore) che appartengono alla nostra Sardegna e la cui bellezza trova, una volta di più, la meritata consacrazione mondiale.
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Post by veu on May 29, 2023 10:27:27 GMT -5
Source: www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-65672642The Little Mermaid: Film critics fall for Halle Bailey’s ‘charismatic’ Ariel Published 6 days ago
Actress Halle Bailey delivers a "star-making" performance as Ariel in Disney's live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, according to critics.
Most reviews of the film praised Bailey, with Hollywood bible Variety declaring that "a star is born".
The Guardian said she is "the best thing about this film" and its "only unmitigated triumph".
Those verdicts come after the casting of a black actress as the mermaid caused controversy in some quarters.
But the 23-year-old singer-turned-actress "knocks all naysayers into place with an innately charismatic turn and full-throttle vocal powers", according to The Times' film critic Kevin Maher.
He said Bailey gives a "star-making turn", a phrase also used by The Independent's Clarisse Loughrey.
She summed up the film by writing: "Nice casting can't cover up the ugly visuals and lack of creative risk."
The live action remake of the beloved 1989 adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's story also uses a large dose of computer animation to bring the underwater world to life.
"The animals are all now, of course, photorealistic," Loughrey added. "It's odd to think they spent so much money on making Flounder (Jacob Tremblay) look like a real fish when they could have just bought a Big Mouth Billy Bass and achieved the same range of facial expressions."
The Guardian's Ellen E Jones was also scathing, writing that aside from Bailey, "almost everything else about this flops about like a dying fish on deck".
She said things that were cute or funny when done in cartoon form "are no longer cute or funny when done by computer-generated sea-life approximates with no recognisable facial expressions".
She added: "Whole sequences of character interaction fondly remembered from its 1989 predecessor… are rendered lifeless by CGI. And you'd be lucky to make much of it out through the murk of the underwater cinematography anyway."
Other verdicts were varied but less damning - from The Hollywood Reporter's Lovia Gyarkye, who said the film has a "vague, generic vibe", to the Telegraph's Alex Diggins, who said it "justifies its shiny revisioning".
Past Disney "rehashes haven't been altogether successful", Diggins wrote. "Happily, The Little Mermaid comfortably leaps clear of the lot. It serves as a handsome homage while persuasively making the case as its own discrete entity."
Variety's Peter Debruge was enthusiastic about the overall film as well as Bailey's performance.
He also singled out Melissa McCarthy as villainous sea witch Ursula.
"McCarthy manages to hit every beat the super fans expect, while surprising with every pause and inflection," he wrote.
"Between Bailey's wide-eyed urchin and McCarthy's over-the-top octo-hussy, the movie comes alive - not in some zombified form, like reanimated Disney debacles Dumbo and Pinocchio, but in a way that gives young audiences something magical to identify with, and fresh mermaid dreams to aspire to."
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Post by veu on Jun 2, 2023 8:13:56 GMT -5
From Skyler Shuler Instagram Stories:
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