abrady8103

I liked three of Rob Marshall's previous films that he did for Disney: Annie (1999), 'Into the Woods', and 'Mary Poppins Returns'. So, I was going into this one with positive expectations. I was fortunate enough to see in both Dolby 3D and IMAX. The visuals, scenery, and cinematography are stunning. I also thought the film had solid casting choices. Halle Baily brought the youthful spirit of Ariel from the original and has a lovely voice; Melissa McCarthy was entertaining as Ursula; and Jonah Hauer-King brought depth to Prince Eric. The designs of the characters were distracting though. Plus, the film starts off kind of slow since there is no musical number until "Part of Your World". "Fathoms Below" is moved to a later scene in the movie. Still, I had good time watching it.

I saw this movie years ago and I didn't enjoy it then. Recently, I watched it again to see if my initial thoughts about it were right and they still are. The leads and supporting characters are not very likeable and the messages are very disingenuous and insincere. Gary Marshall's work was never enjoyable for me and he clearly did not think carefully about what this film was trying to accomplish as a director and writer. It really surprises me that that this film did not receive more Razzie Award nominations along with the one that Lewis received.