The Little Mermaid Movie Download

4 / 10

Does not make a splash
Despite the title, ‘The Little Mermaid’ has nothing to do with the Disney film, a different story entirely and a far superior film on a side note, and to say that it is inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale is saying it rather loosely. If anything it is sort of a sequel to the original story if the story had a different ending to what it actually has.

Seeing it today with nothing else better to do, having a break from singing practise, ‘The Little Mermaid’ was a disappointment. The advertising was not that promising, but with my love for the Disney film and Andersen’s story with the title it was so easy to be misled thinking it was another adaptation with a fair share of live action remakes of classic Disney films in the past few years. Didn’t think it was a complete ship-wreck and it doesn’t completely sink but it struggles and fails to reach the surface.

‘The Little Mermaid’ for me did have good things. The animated prologue at the beginning was nicely done, had a slight melancholy that was fitting and does grab one into the story. Some of the photography was fairly good and the music score is pleasant to listen to and atmospheric, not too syrupy.

Poppy Drayton gives by far the best performance, her sincerity quite moving. Shirley McLaine adds some class though her screen time is short.

Unfortunately the rest of the acting is poor. This is particularly true in the case of Armando Gutierrez, who brings absolutely nothing to the villain other than some hamminess towards the end. There is nothing sinister, fun, intriguing or memorable here, merely a one-dimensional villain role with no development and with nothing to it really. The circus troupe are also amateurishly acted, leaning towards the over-acting, can’t tell who was the worst as they were all as bad as each other. William Moseley is quite bland, with the character coming over as stiff, and seemed rather young to be an uncle figure, more an older brother, while the girl was just okay but nothing more.

Other than some nice photography here and there, ‘The Little Mermaid’ has a very made for TV film feel with some afterthought-like effects work, lighting that’s either too dark or over-saturated and very obvious underwater sequences. The photography and editing in the more action-oriented scenes, which were chaotic, devoid of tension and poorly staged in general, are quite cheap and irritates rather than attention grabs. The script is like a severely damp squib complete with some misplaced cheese and the story has no charm, warmth or fun, instead it was lifeless, cynical and with no emotion. It is very paper thin and is often uneventful structurally, meaning that there are a lot of really momentum-less stretches that felt like padding. The direction shows no distinction.

Summing up, a disappointment that neither sinks or rises. 4/10 Bethany CoxRead More