The Little Mermaid follows the story of a mermaid who is fascinated by the thought of humans and quite curious on what lies on the other side of the sea. Will she find her true love? As we all know, the story is an instant classic and the challenge really was in the retelling of the tale. And sadly, the film falters in exactly that area. The screenplay standing at about a 130 odd minutes does have its moments in terms of glitz and glam but falters in creating a narrative that is soulful and heartfelt.

The drama does open on a good note with the introduction of the protagonist amidst an unexplored kingdom prevalent in the deep waters of the sea. The animation is instantly on point and it acts as a base for a beautiful world building that is accompanied by music and recreated creatures. These form the best moments of the film and do evoke the right kind of emotions wherein you are invested in the journey of the protagonist and long for her union with the humans. The issue lies in the characterization of the antagonist which should have been more terrifying as was the case in the original. If the attempt was to keep things simple and subtle, it didn’t work as it diluted the entire product!

The proceedings falter immediately after the introduction of the conflict and that had to do a lot with the execution which was totally off. From that point, I didn’t quite connect with any of the emotions in the drama, neither was I fully invested in the narrative. The entire sequence of the protagonist falling in love with a charming man felt artificial and plain plastic. It lacked soul or for that matter any kind of emotions that were even remotely close to the warmth of the original. And the idea of elongating a straight forward story did also backfire whereas the reality was that it could have ended much earlier.

The third and final act of the film is a bit of a slog, in all fairness. Because the writers hadn’t quite invested in the antagonist or even the emotions in the drama, there is zero payback. You aren’t intimidated by the presence of the protagonist and neither are you fully invested in the emotions which were a driving point of the original. Even the trademark Disney magic is missing which was a big worrying sign! The final act is bland and banal that just did not impress much. In fact, I was waiting for the drama to end by fidgeting in my chair which really wasn’t a promising sign. Overall, the screenplay here is half-hearted and absolutely soulless with its presentation.