Go Under the Sea with “The Little Mermaid” on May 26th!

“The Little Mermaid” opens on Friday, May 26th just in time for the long holiday weekend. I was fortunate to watch an early screening of the movie with my family and we thoroughly enjoyed it!

Halle Bailey is terrific in this movie and after you hear her belt out the first song, you’ll swear that she has the voice of an angel (or in this case, a mermaid).

The live-action movie stays faithful to the original animated version with a few updates, including Ursula’s backstory which is more well-rounded and gives audiences a better idea of why she’s so villainous.

I have to admit that when first heard that Melissa McCarthy was cast as Ursula, I made a conscious decision to wait until I saw the movie before prejudging it (like many had done on social media). I was very pleased with her performance – it wasn’t too campy (which had been my fear). Her singing in “Poor Unfortunate Souls” was solid and I thought she played the character with just the right amount of humor and sass.

There are two songs that were updated with new lyrics to make them acceptable to current social norms. I’m not going to go into it since it would take too long to explain, but you can click here to read the details.

“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 from interacting 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.

The film’s stars Halle Bailey, Jonah Hauer-King, Daveed Diggs, Jacob Tremblay, Javier Bardem, Melissa McCarthy, Noma Dumezweni and Art Malik. The movie is directed by Rob Marshall with music by legendary composer Alan Menken and new songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Check out this behind-the-scenes look at the film’s creative process!

In addition to the stacked cast, the costumes were beautiful (thanks to Colleen Atwood), the music was great and the set pieces were spectacular.

I really appreciated the diversity of the cast. Much has been said in the press (and on Twitter) about that subject, but I embraced it. However, first and foremost, the updated story is entertaining and will tug at your heart with nostalgia.

“The Little Mermaid” opens in theaters Friday, May 26th!
“The Little Mermaid” is rated PG.
Visit the official movie website here for more information.

Disclosure: No monetary compensation was received for this post. I attended an advanced screening of the movie which helped facilitate this review. Images shown in this post are used with permission. As always, my opinions are 100% my own.