I took the kids to the movies today to see the live-action The Little Mermaid. Payton has an early day on Fridays, so I got tickets for us to hit up the 3:30 show. It was a bit of a busy day. After Payton went to school, Logan and I went golfing. We came home and helped Lindsey with some yard work, then he wanted to ride his bike for a while, so I had the privilege of walking up and down the road with him.
When Payton got home from school, she also wanted to ride her bike. We came inside around 2:00 so I could get a shower. I wanted to get to the movie a little early because I was not sure of how busy it would be. I mean, a 3:30 show on a Friday, when the school dismisses at like 12:30? I could totally see it being packed.
It was busy, but nothing crazy. I bought the kids the giant souvenir bucket of popcorn. We got seated and sat through the ads, then the previews. Honestly, they should either have a countdown to when the movie will start, or start the previews earlier, so the movie can start at the specified time. At least for kids movies. By the time it got started, they had been sitting there for like 25 minutes, which is a long time for kids.
I only had to get up twice. Once to buy Logan a water, which he shared with Payton. And then again to take him to the restroom. Payton never had to go, or at least I think she just held it because she did not want to miss any of the movie.
The movie itself was great. I love the live-action remakes. Granted, some are better than others, but for the most part, I have been a fan. But honestly, who cares about my opinion in this matter. Payton is the one you need to ask. She absolutely loved it. Towards the end of the movie, she leaned over and said “this is my favorite movie ever.”
Her favorite song was “Poor Unfortunate Souls” by Melissa McCarthy. Payton thought the Sea-Witch was perfect. My favorite song was the new one, “The Scuttlebutt” by Awkwafina. Payton realized fairly quickly that Scuttle was Sisu from Raya and the Last Dragon.
Logan enjoyed the movie, but I could tell that he thought it was too long (the movie is over two hours). He was tired from all that bike riding. He kept laying his head on my shoulder, plus he was scared of King Triton when he gets angry at Ariel. He did not get scared of Ursula though.
One of the things I really enjoyed about this version was how it gave Prince Eric a little more depth as a character. Similarly to the way they expanded the role of Jasmine in Aladdin, this remake did the same with Eric. Instead of just being a prince looking for a girl to marry, he is trying to be a ruler who is involved with his people, while also being worried about the future of their island kingdom. He wants to expand trade so the island does not fall behind the rest of the world.
Okay, there is a moment in the movie when Eric is showing Ariel maps. He is listing off a bunch of nations. I was half-expecting him to mention Arendelle. It would have been a fun Frozen reference, but also a nice joke to get the Unified Theory folks stirred up. There used to be a theory (I think Frozen 2 dispelled this idea though) that the shipwreck Ariel explores at the beginning of the movie is the ship that Elsa and Anna’s parents were on (the theory states they were on their way to Flynn and Rapunzel’s wedding, and that the mom was pregnant–the ship sinks, the mother finds her way to shore, gives birth, and dies. The baby is found by gorillas and is raised as Tarzan–yeah, it’s a crazy/fun theory).
I would love to hear what everyone else thought of the movie.
