Live-Action Version of "The Little Mermaid"
I went to see the live-action Disney film "The Little Mermaid," which was released on June 9th (Friday). It happened to be a day when I could leave work early for building maintenance, so I left the office without hesitation, skipping overtime.
I had been eager to watch it every time I saw the commercials because the song "Part of Your World" felt just like the voice of a mermaid.
I visited Shinjuku Piccadilly, where I had previously watched "Shikakenin Fujieda Baian," another film. Since the dubbed version had a star-studded cast this time, there were quite a few showtimes for the dubbed version, and I felt limited in options for the subtitled version.
I wanted to challenge the movie theater in Kabukicho Tower, but I couldn't bring myself to walk through the lively streets of Kabukicho on a Friday night just for "The Little Mermaid." I'll try it next time during a lively daytime.
What are my thoughts on the live-action "The Little Mermaid"?
Since I watched the subtitled version, the girls sitting next to me were speaking in French, and their first words after the ending were "Très Bien!" I wanted to say the same.
The story is almost the same as the well-known Disney animated film, so I'll skip discussing it, but the direction, visual representation, performances, and songs in recreating it were all excellent.
Some iconic scenes from the animated version were also reproduced in the live-action adaptation.
In addition, compared to when I watched the animated film, this version carried a modern message about complex family environments, people who yearn for and fear different cultures, and the dynamics within families.
Ariel's father and Eric's (adoptive) mother both had an overprotective nature, and when Ariel and Eric connected on that aspect, it felt like the song "Gold von den Sternen (Gold Falling from the Stars)" from the musical "Mozart!" could start playing.
Is there any awkwardness in the live-action Disney film?
In Japan, when live-action adaptations of animated films are made, there are opinions like "Don't ruin my character's image." I think creating a live-action version can be quite challenging.
Also, personally, although I didn't find any problems, I'll mention that there were some critical opinions as soon as the visuals were released for this movie.
Of course, humans cannot become animated characters, and it's not that we don't feel any awkwardness.
But for example, before I watched Broadway and Shiki Theater musicals, I saw the visual representation of Ariel in the musical and thought, "She has an ice cream cone on her head." However, when I watched the musical, it no longer bothered me.
There are occasional moments like that in this movie that can be slightly distracting.
However, any points where you feel like saying, "What is this?" might not be about the story of the film itself but rather the fact that the Disney version deviates from Andersen's original tale, which was about the "mermaid who doesn't turn into bubbles."
If you expect everything to be exactly the same as the animated version, it might shatter your dreams, but if you watch it as a new film, it was a beautifully crafted story that is hard to come by.
Disney films have extravagant trailers
Since it was a Disney film, there were many trailers for other Disney movies. One that caught my attention was "My Element," which features Tamamori Yuta from Kis-My-Ft2 as a voice actor.
But more than that, what caught my eye was "Wish," which is set to release this winter. It feels like Disney is going all out for their 100th anniversary. The English commercial mentioned November, and considering the Japanese promotion is for winter, maybe I can watch it while studying abroad in Malaysia.
Also, it seems that Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen will appear in the final installment of the "Indiana Jones" series, titled "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny." I've only seen him as a villain, but his visuals are top-notch. I didn't know because there's always news about Harrison Ford.
When I watch foreign movies, I consider it as spending nearly two hours on English listening practice (or at least that's how I think of it). So, I'm excited to make time and go see various films.
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