The Little Mermaid (2023)– JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2023 film The Little Mermaid.

Story

Disney has been calling these “remakes” but they’re really just copies. That might sound disparaging, but I’ve watched and enjoyed more Cinderella, Musketeer, and Robin Hood movies than I can count.

The changes in this are understandable and it shows that the scriptwriters had a deep love for the animated version. I liked the slight change at the end.

Score: 0.5

Characters

Most of the cast made the roles their own. Ariel was amazing and thankfully less whiny. Triton felt more relatable and Eric was less bland.

The actress who played Vanessa was fantastic.

I’m not impressed with Ursula. I thought the actress might try something original, but instead she did a mediocre impersonation of Pat Carroll.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

The dialogue is very similar but just different enough to sound wrong. It’s not normally a problem but sometimes it was frustrating. The modern updates were good, and again it was nice to see Eric have some more screen time and lines.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

The visuals were good but the underwater stuff was a little uncanny valley. It was beautiful but felt wrong.

The music was fantastic and Ioved the extra songs.

Score: 0.5

Fun

The beginning was a little slow but after that it went fast. The kids loved it and the rest of the family enjoyed it. It was fun overall.

Score: 1

Overall

A faithful adaptation to the original that hits all the right notes. It’s unfortunate that Melissa McCarthy’s Ursula was only a poor copy of the original’s soul.

Final Score: 3 Stars out of 5

Ponyo – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2008 film Ponyo.

Story

A fascinating take on the little mermaid story. It’s interesting how love is treated as deep affection instead of romance.

Score: 1

Characters

The characters are adorable and I love how the movements of the 5 year olds are so realistic.

Score: 1

Dialogue

It’s hard to judge the dialogue since there’s technically two sets. The translated text which was the subtitles and the actual spoken dialogue. We watched this on streaming so we couldn’t choose the proper subtitles.

Both versions were interesting, but I think the spoken dialogue was simplified for western audiences.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

The film was stunning and utterly beautiful.

The music was awesome.

Score: 1

Fun

I have this weird instinct with Miyazaki movies that make me stress out the whole first watching. Other than Princess Mononoke, there’s no reason for that worry.

Beyond that it was really fun.

Score: 1

Overall

A beautiful and fun retelling of The Little Mermaid story. It’s filled with all the charm, humour, and amazing art that’s expected of a Miyazaki film.

Final Score: 4.5 Stars out of 5