I finally got around to watching the live action version of Disney’s The Little Mermaid on Disney+.

It is not a good movie.

I  don’t fault the actors. They do a descent enough job working with a terrible script and awful direction. Halle Bailey is an appealing young actress with a beautiful voice. Melissa McCarthy is a standout as Ursula. And while I applaud the multi-ethnic casting, the way it was handled felt clumsy. Can’t there be a diverse cast without all the awkward justifications? Making Prince Eric into an adopted foundling was unnecessary and provided no payoff.

Lin-Manuel Miranda contributed a few new songs that are pleasant, but unmemorable and slow the movie down.

The movie runs almost an hour longer than the original animated version and suffers by comparison. The storytelling is so lethargic and overblown that only morbid curiosity compelled me to stay awake and finish watching.

The Disney obsession with turning their classic animated films into live action films is a miscalculation. The majority of these reimagined efforts have not been successful critically or commercially. They bring nothing new to the table. They only make me want to rewatch the superior original animated versions.

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