Disney

I was disappointed how many key lines were changed for no reason, including some that tied in with following lines. e.g. when Ursula suggests becoming human, the new one has "Is that possible?" Where original had "Can you do that?" And both are followed by "My dear, that's what I do. It's what I live for." The original line fits the response better, and there's no reason I can think of to change it, unlike some of the other changes (like in Kiss the Girl, which I understand).

I also think the change to the opening scene (and related follow-ups) to be more dark and violent were unnecessary. In the original, you could argue that there was a lot of misunderstanding, that they didn't realize what they were really doing, while in the new one they are straight to enemies and both sides are deliberately being evil. That changed a lot of the tone of the movie in a way I didn't like.

Similarly, in Ursula's lair, Ariel was grabbed by monsters in the new version, while it was captured merfolk in the original. Major change in tone, and I liked the original in that regard.

And I really didn't like how dark and hard to see everything was in the new version. Even the dark scenes like the ship and Ursula's lair were much easier to see in the original movie.

I liked the live action. I wouldn’t say it’s better or worse than the animated version, but I felt it was worth the price of admission. I also wouldn’t say the animated version is one of my favorite Disney movies anyway, but don’t tell my wife I said that. I wouldn’t watch it again, but then I’m also not interested in watching the animated version again.

I think people go into it being more critical than they should because of the original. I’m not saying the comparison is unfair. However, if you judge it as a stand alone movie, without comparing to the animated, I think it would get a better response. It’s the danger of all remakes.

I really liked when Eric shows off his collection of treasures he found in the sea, mirroring her earlier behavior. I felt it showed that they had a spirit and passion in common that could explain why they might actually fall in love and be partners in their lives rather than just needing to “have the kiss break the spell”. I don’t remember that being in the original, but maybe I’m wrong.

With all the pearl clutching and manufactured drama about the changes they made related to consent and race, I felt those changes were important to make and implemented very well.

I'll eventually check it out on D+

Eric song was not great not sure why it was added. Scuttles was so bad I found it enjoyable. I watched the original back to back and the obvious thing was reducing how love struck Ariel was. Which is alot to unpack so I'll pass. So glad they got rid of the chef v sebastion scene. Wished they explained how humans killed her mom. Like were people eating mermaids to get immortality or did a dumb salor harpoon her. I was also confused in how the "precious" siren song saved Eric or why they needed to make him adopted. Found it interesting they made Ariel kill Ursula after she showed Eric be a good sailor and she never was a ship before. Other than that I found it enjoyable with actors doing there best. Still better than little mermaid 2.