![]() ![]() Most of the new elements in the live-action rendition of the tale are dramatizations of themes that were already implicit but under-explored in the earlier movie. But, just as important, the screenwriter, David Magee, hasn’t so much added to the original as developed it. Partly, that’s because of the star power of Halle Bailey, the actress playing the protagonist, Ariel. On the contrary, it’s an authentically fuller dramatic experience, though not a more charming one. The new “Little Mermaid” expands the story from the 1989 movie’s eighty-three minutes to a hundred and thirty-five, and, to my surprise, this longer version doesn’t drag. This is also the era of backstory-the notion that each individual’s personal history is crucial to the viewer for understanding a character’s present-tense actions and states of mind. ![]() With heavy competition from streaming services and episodic television, movies are under pressure to distinguish themselves, and one way of doing so is with the spectacular dimension that a teeming and extensive story can deliver. The trend toward long movies has a commercial aspect and an artistic one, and occasionally, as in the new live-action version of “The Little Mermaid,” they converge. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |