Not Bad Actually! THE LITTLE MERMAID Movie Reaction FIRST TIME WATCH! Halle Bailey, Melissa McCarthy 

My favorite song is For the First Time. When I went to see the movie in theaters I was truly blown away and in awe. As a young black girl to see a mermaid was a dream of mine to see💙🧜‍♀️

I think the realistic animal thing is only an issue for the adults. Im sure this is what my mom was thinking with all the Buddies and Beverly Hills Chihuahua movies I was watching😭 You don’t notice it as a kid

One of my favorite things is how they made Eric a much more complex character. It makes complete sense as to how they fall in love. Also i truly believe, besides Melissa McCarthy's performance, Jonah and Halle really do carry this movie with their great onscreen chemistry and amazaing vocal performances.

I feel like the reason I love “wild uncharted waters” is because I’m a theater kid?? Like that’s my only explanation cause I don’t understand how others don’t like it

This was the only live action movie that made me cry and I think that Halle was amazing! She was the best part of the movie for me. I'm sad that she got all the undeserved hate she got. The whole movie was well done!

Halles singing voice is insane bro

first time discovering Vivian and oh my LORD that SMILE is contagious!!! you got a fan from south africa now, absolutely stunning human being😍❤‍🔥

In the animation, Eric's character is basically nonexistent. Anything extra from that is a development. Honestly, this movie is much better than the animated in terms of how much the story makes sense. The animated flows better because it's ANIMATED and frozen in our childhood's memory..

I also want to add that I've seen alot of reactions and reviews about this movie and most them are nitpicking this movie apart and complaining about how things should look and what they didn't like and it's okay to have an opinion but they are forgetting that this is a children's movie. Everything about this movie, from the casting, the songs, the clothes, the creatures were to make it palatable for CHILDREN not adults. And with that being said it was very well done, this was one of the good live action films.

Enjoy the reaction just kept getting distracted by how many times Jaby kept referring to the women characters bitches and hoes... but I guess that's a very bro thing to do .

I understand there's a certain percentage of people who are so vested into the 1989 version that they were hesitant to accept a newer version, especially in light of the fact that most of the other live-actions weren't well received. I just find it comical that so many people just jumped on the hate bandwagon that they tried trashing the film without giving the movie a fair watch. I don't expect everyone to love this version the way I do. The animated version will always have a special place in my heart. My siblings and I grew up on it. But, to me, the 2023 version is just a better more complete film. I have a couple of mild gripes, but nothing that lowered the score for me. I saw it multiple times in cinemas and appreciated it more each time. Side Note: Jaby's weird nitpicks don't bother me anymore. I've seen enough of his videos not to take him too seriously. LOL!!!

When casting was first announced I was so disappointed in Melissa for Ursula and was expecting “the worst” - like the slapstick comedy, her falling or tripping over something, parts of her signature comedy that I don’t vibe with - and have never been so pleased to be proven wrong in my assumptions. I eat my words and she absolutely ATE this performance When I saw this in theaters, like with Beauty and the Beast, I got caught up in the nostalgia factor and came out liking it a WHOLE lot. Once my buzz wore off, I still really enjoyed it but I’m not sure how much of that like is linked to comparing it to the other live action Disney films 😂 I was most looking forward to hearing Halle sing and that certainly did not disappoint. The film is not perfect and there are pockets of pure joy and there are parts that make me cringe. I actually think I agree with Jabby in terms if Eric and Ariel’s arcs in this movie and who has a more “complete” one

I wanted to hear what Vivian had to say. But Jaby barely let her say a whole sentence without interrupting her :/ I really loved the movie ❤

As a HUGE fan of the original, this movie had some big fins to fill. And it didn’t always succeed either, but Melissa as Ursula and Halle as Ariel made up for any of the nitpicking I could’ve done. They carried the movie completely! Great reactions ❤

Almost 10 minutes in, I JUST noticed Jaby was here too

Jonah Hauer- King makes a gorgeous Eric twin, the black hair and the blue eyes, even the dimple. Hes literally perfectly casted.

Of course it looks different from the animated version. This is a live action movie aimed at adults, not kids. So the crab is gonna look like a crab. The fish is gonna look like a fish. But they still talk. And Ariel's hair is still red, it's just more natural instead of the vibrant tone from the animation. Furthermore, Scuttle is portrayed as a female northern gannet diving bird (not a male seagull) because they are able to breathe underwater for a short period of time. Ursula's look and behaviour in the animated film was inspired by an American drag queen called Divine. To prepare for her role as Ursula, Melissa McCarthy actually consulted with the drag queen community. One fun little detail is when Ursula is creating the potion to become Vanessa and the main ingredient is a bottle shaped like a human stomach. This is a play on the phrase "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach". Many people miss the fact that Ursula and Triton are siblings in this version. Triton had banished Ursula from his kingdom and disowned her for practicing black magic, which is what motivates her actions. It was cut from the animation but was included in the 2007 Broadway musical. Ariel and her sisters have the same mum but they represent the seven seas which is why each of them are a different race. Regarding the opening quote: Throughout the film Ariel cannot produce tears, even when she's sad and/or crying, UNTIL she becomes a human. Scuttle's "Has Ariel killed the prince yet?" is most likely referencing the original fairy tale, in which the nameless mermaid is destined to turn into sea foam and die after the prince marries another woman. The mermaid's sisters tell her that the only way she can escape this fate is if she kills the prince with an enchanted dagger. However, the mermaid can't go through with it and instead accepts her death. Ariel 'signed' the contract by giving Ursula a scale from her mermaid tail, which actually covers up a plot hole from the animation where she literally signs it with a quill pen. Since she could clearly read and write English, why didn't she just explain herself by writing it down? There's a big chance Eric wouldn't have believed her but it's worth a try right?I Ariel is given 3 days to kiss Eric and make him fall in love with her so she can remain human permanently. Ursula cheats 3 times to keep Ariel from being able to do just that. First, she secretly puts a memory spell on Ariel so she won't remember she needs Eric's kiss to stay human, and every time she is reminded she forgets immediately or falls asleep (that wasn't in the animation). Second, she sends her pet eels to prevent Ariel and Eric from kissing at the end of Kiss the Girl. Finally, she transforms herself into a human with Ariel's voice to trick Eric into marrying her. They changed the dingelhopper scene to include Jodi Benson, the original voice of Ariel in the animation. She is the lady who gives Ariel the dinglehopper in the market. It's a symbolism of her passing the torch to Halle. Regarding the colours in the sea, someone said it's supposed to look all dark and gloomy from Ariel's perspective because that's how she sees it, which honestly makes sense. I loved the way Eric points out the star constellations to Ariel (which as a sailor he knows well) and starts guessing her name. It was such a beautiful improvement from the animated version where Sebastian just whispered her name to Eric. It added so much depth and charm to the scene. I like that Eric's character arch is more than just being the prince Ariel falls in love with. He has a backstory and a family. He, like Ariel, has a parent who believes they know what is best for their child. Eric being adopted is supposed to highlight the fact that he feels like he doesn't belong. Much like Ariel, he feels there is so much more to explore and discover, only the other way around. They share a bond over their love for collecting treasures. I really like how they fleshed out their romance more and actually showed they had a connection, instead of just 'love at first sight' and physical attraction. It also helped a lot that Halle and Jonah had an insane amount of chemistry. They also made it a lot clearer in this version that Ariel didn't want to become a human just for Eric. She was already interested and curious of life on land BEFORE she met him. Her motivations were rooted in her not fitting in and wanting to explore. She would have gone up one way or another, she just happened to have met Eric along the way. I think that’s why they added the bit about her not remembering to kiss Eric. They didn’t want the whole premise of her giving up her voice to be about chasing a guy, rather, about her chasing her dreams. Triton destroying her belongings was always the catalyst for her going to Ursula, not Eric in itself. They still kept the romance, it didn't take anything away from it. Some people have a problem with Ariel killing Ursula instead of Eric as if it takes anything away from his character. He literally saved Ariel's life when Ursula was about to kill her by throwing the harpoon. He also saved Max. Ariel may have given him a little nudge but he was almost there anyways. And even so, it still speaks to Eric's character. Just like he didn't save Ariel in exhange for her saving him. He saved her because he loved her, and more importantly because he's a decent person. Ursula trying to kill Eric made so much more sense because she didn't care about Eric, it was about hurting Ariel. I wasn't sure about Javier Bardem's portrayal of King Triton at first, but the more I think about it the more I like it. In the animation he clearly had some anger issues, and while that is understandable, he doesn't have to be all screaming and intimidating to have an impact. He looks and sounds more disappointed and scared here rather than angry, which is not only a lot more respectable but also a lot more believable. He feels more like a worried father than just some big scary dude with an anger management problem. As for the acting as a whole, Halle and Melissa clearly stood out, but Jonah, Daveed, Jacob, Awkwafina and even Javier did a great job as well. Also, Jessica Alexander as Vanessa absolutely stole the 5 minutes she was on screen. As for the music, I think Halle absolutely nailed Part Of Your World. She has such an innocent and naive quality to her voice yet powerful at the same time. The power in that high note in the reprise is incredible. I love Melissa's version of Poor Unfortunate Souls. There is so much sass and character in her voice. The fact that Melissa had little to no singing experience and didn't even know she could sing is INSANE. Under The Sea translates surprisingly well to live action. Daveed Diggs adds his own flavour to it and Halle's little adlibs add so much to the song. Kiss The Girl is just magical, musically and visually. I love Wild Uncharted Waters and how it has her siren song behind it. Jonah has an amazing voice and you can hear he has a theatre backround. Also, this is random but I love how you can hear his strong English accent in every single word. For The First Time is great and allows Halle to be more playful yet vulnerable. I was appalled when I first heard Scuttlebutt, but it has grown on me and now I actually kinda like it. And while some people didn't like the ending scene with Triton, Ariel's sisters and all the other merpeople, I loved it. Yeah we didn't really see Ariel interacting with any of them besides her family, but neither did we in the animation and I still felt emotional seeing them at the end. It was kind of showing how their two worlds were forever united with their marriage. There are only really two things I have a problem with in the whole movie: The lack of Flounder and lack of Ariel's wardrobe. I didn't have any problem with the way Flounder looked, I just felt like he was absolutely useless in the movie. He barely had any lines and wasn't even on screen that much. I needed more of him. And, obviously, they could've dressed Halle in a potato bag and she still would've looked gorgeous. But Ariel's wardrobe on land felt lackluster. She wore the same blue dress the entire time! Even the dress at the end during the wedding was the same one, only in pink. What about the blue dress with the bow? Or the sparkling purple dress? The wedding dress? Why not bring them to life and just modernise them a bit? I don't feel that their reunion at the end was underwhelming like some people do. If anything, I like how simple it was and that they didn't speak. They communicated enough with their faces. At the end of the day, this is a movie about a mermaid turning into a human and fish that can talk. Not everything has to make sense. The thing is, there are some people who will never be satisfied because it will never be as good as the animated version. You can still enjoy and appreciate this movie for what it is.

I am OBSESSED with this movie

I agree with you on her hair Jaby. Whoever does Halle’s hair on the carpets should’ve styled her hair. Halle has locs naturally, but if you’ve seen her ig or if you’ve seen her attending award shows, she does SO MUCH with her hair it’s crazy. I’ve never seen someone with locs wearing braids, wigs, etc and I often forget she has them. Both her and Chloe Bailey. Halle has an ethereal beauty and I just wished they kept that off land. I wish they enhanced that. It would’ve made the awful experience I had with the outfits much better. I’m Jamaican, and we have our own mermaid folklore stories( also the rest of the Caribbean) and I’ve seen drawings of black mermaids and it just makes the styling choice for this movie all the much more disappointing.

The secret of the ending is that... Ariel and Eric, go off and found Mako Island, and then the story continues with the mermaid 'pod' on the "Mako: Island of Secrets", and the story of, "H2O: Just Add Water" begins. ;)

Jonah needed more songs

I've only seen the original movie in bits...so this was pretty much a first time and i absolutely loved it❤ Yes, triton and ariel acting scenes underwater was a bit off; but i was too enamored to notice in the first watch Eric's character is lovely too

In the original Ariel just wanted to be part of the human world. Saving Eric and her father destroying her collection was what pushed her to leave and go to Ursula. The remake is no different in those aspects.

Anyways, my favorite Disney movie is the little mermaid and i love this live action a lot ❤

It's completely out of the topic, but I think that Vivian would look perfect as a live action Pocahontas 😍😍😍she's so beautiful

The highest praise you can give the movie for the video title is "not bad actually"?? Agreed.

I really liked this movie. Only real complaint I have is denying her the magic dress in the end. This is still one of my top favorite live action adaptations. Cinderella and Jungle Book were really good too, and I think enhanced the story from the originals

Grimsby was the only one in the original that had an English accent, if I remember correctly

Making Sebastian, Flounder, Scuttle realistic was not a miss. It was brilliant to make them realistic with slightly cartoonish eyes for emoting. Otherwise a more grounded live-action version would just be silly. This is not Marry Poppins! LOL!!!

Vivian is right. They tweaked the story a bit to make Ariel and Eric more complete characters who fall in love because they have common interests. The original was kinda cringe in that regard. Great reaction though; I appreciate it.

Hey, do you speak Na’vi?! I have been trying to get someone to practice with. I know we can’t but it’s nice to know someone out there does for fun.

Love how ppl read the title but still click just to hate. It's just a movie.

I've really enjoyed this movie 😊

I liked the lady's reaction best!

Aladdin 2019 was awesome 😎

Thanks for posting.

Well I’d like to make a point to him. The reason you see more shots of Erik being infatuated with Ariel was intentional. Halles Ariel has other ambitions besides being in love, she wants to see the world. She wants to discover and explore everything it has to offer. The director didn’t want it to just be her giving up her life for some boy because it’s very cliche and old. The point was for Erik to be more in love than Ariel.

Can an adopted child become a legitimate heir of a kingdom?

I don't think you showed the scuttlebutt song. 😢

You guys look good together but i wished you had watched with Achara 😢

Loved the movie, the jungle book live action is by far the best live action adaptation in my opinion and no one talks about it 😢

Fantastic reaction!🧡

Succession s3!!!!

Do… Jaby’s arms, look bigger…? 💪💪👀 Oh, yeah, LOVE this movie and the performances! Missed the sparkly, blue dress at the end, but overall, didn’t mind all the changes too much.👍 Now do a reaction of SPLASH with Vivian(so smart and so pretty)!

Unrelated but vivian is so gorgeous 💓

Are you guys still doing the next season of succession??

The girl who gave ariel the fork during the village scene, that was Jodi Benson the original voice actor of Ariel

My fave live action ❤❤

The horse thing might be a little trivia nod to Poseidon being God of Horses, so Ariel in turn is good with them

It's interesting that Jaby hated Aladdin Live Action and I think it's one of my favorite Live Action movies, on the other hand I hated Lion King because I didn't connect with the animals.

My favourite movie of 2023

As a half white guy I’m offended 😂😂😂😂

Does Jaby HAVE to refer to women as "hoes" like this? Anyone else notice that?

Succession season 3 and 4 ???????????

42:29 Its funny how vivian is telling the guy what guys want.

Out of the live action films idk cause I haven’t seen the all but I’d say beauty and the beast was maybe the best? Aladdin was okay to good. I thought gut Cinderella was boring. Jungle book and lion king I haven’t seen with Mulan.

The best live action for to me was the Beauty and the Beast 💛

with the right director i believe this movie could have been amazing

Jessica Alexander played vanessa

She is famous

I'm not even mad about hale being little mermaid Ariel she is beautiful an amazing singer and a great actress, doesn't look like it's her first acting, her expressions and emotions are on point to the pint it makes us forgive the change of ethnicity and looks even the women playing Ursula is great too but but the prince ? it wasn't bad I guess but not good either it was hard to enjoy the performance for me not at all how i imagined Eric to be, even Hrithik in his debut first movies looked more like prince Eric in some movie scenes like koy mil Gaya when he was fighting with a white shirt on and a haircut similar to Eric and even in his other first movie ka ho na pyaar hai in his natural raw shape and he is Indian, if we can notice an Indian looking like prince Eric in his youth then it mustn't be dificult to find an American looking similar and as beautiful and charming as prince Eric come on. sure they could have done better I'm trying to not be harsh but i'm truely disappointed they shattered my childhood little mermaid was my favorit of all times. it shattered my fantasy's on the live action, to me he is not Eric, he has a too wide face structure and features while prince Eric had a beautiful soft yet sharp thin masculine features and a thin nose with big beautiful blue eyes I just don't see it here. and even his acting performance as Éric is not all that to me he's still good and it's nit like he's ugly but just cast for the wrong role. Still enjoyed the movie in most aspects they did great.

Melissa stole the show

ummm wheres Achara Kirk??? lol

9:56 She should've Stayed with him a little longer

You guys must watch dasavatharam a kamal movie....

BEST LIVE ACTION EVER and also i love how eric really feels like a person now

The only big disappointment in this movie was King Triton. He was so downplayed and his reactions to Ariel going up to the surface and all that was so heavily reaction less. I dunno...I just remember in the original where you could SEE and HEAR in the voice of King Triton how pissed he was. It was like o.o oh boy....Father is P.I.S.S.E.D. I just didn't quite like the actor. Or how they had Ariel save Eric twice. To me in the original it was symbolic because Ariel saved Eric first, and then Eric at the end saved Ariel. It seemed like it was an equal saving bit. I don't know how to explain it but it was a bit disappointing to me. I loved Halle as Ariel. I thought she did a good job at capturing Ariel's innocence. A shame a lot of people were upset with her casting. She did a great job. Also, I always loved the Cinderella version with Whitney Houston and Brandy as Cinderella. That was one of my most favorites growing up

Bro have u seen this video from call of duty channel? cod modern warfare lll zombies cinematic scene.

"Ask for consent" whatever happened to feeling the moment? Has romance died. One time a girl got offended that i asked. She said i should have just made my own decision and made the move. Another time i asked a girl if i could carry her bag for her... she got offended too. So i just stopped even offering anything to anyone.

I'm a huge fan of the original and I just didn't like this movie just my personal opinion nothing more nothing less

I loved the song and voice of Eric. And I know some people won't but Idc.

😁😁😁😁😁😁😁 1:53

It doesnt event want me to subscribe to the patreon, cause all yall do is talk through the songs lol

If the animals had facial reactions, it would have made this movie a million times better! That’s why the film feels lifeless. So much emotion in the voices but visually it lacks emotion.

Jaby, have you been watching Jack Denmo? Because he's always pushing the bullshit narrative that guys don't do anything unless it's to get laid. That's absolutely not true. Granted, we all want to get laid, but give me a break. However, if you were just kidding, then nevermind. I'm glad you liked the movie, though. I dug it too. I wish they'd kept more elements from the animated one, but still a decent film.

I like the more realistic looking animals in a live action movie, otherwise it comes out looking like “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” or “Space Jam”. Seeing real people talking to Saturday morning cartoons is a mess.

I'm first let's gooooo❤

Jaby's facial expression says he did not enjoy this movie still he is saying it's not bad.

jaby kept calling women "hoe" in this reaction...so gross and dissapointing

I was surprised and not surprised they took out the whole section of poor unfortunate souls that basically says men don’t want women to talk, use your looks and body.

Feels like something is missing. That’s the magic that made the ink and paint Little Mermaid an enduring classic.

Jesus is Lord

All I can say to racists who have never seen the movie but hate it anyway is that when I was 6 years old and the cartoon came out, it was the first time I looked at a female and went, wow, they're kind of okay. Something about those seashells.... Between Ariel and Jessica Rabbit, they were my awakening as a kid. I can't imagine if I was that age now I'd feel any different about Ms. Bailey. A live action version of a girl I thought was hot in the 80s? Absolutely. Live action seashells! 😂

Wasn't expecting this reaction. Tell me which fan put you through this😂 or did u do this to yourselves?

She said she wanted to enjoy the movie as it’s own standalone thing but did nothing but compare the two the entire time. Both of them were annoying as hell with the constant comparisons. We get it, you know the script already. Now will you just react to the movie that IS playing? She fed off of his miserable energy the whole time.

If ariel is of color, why isn't Eric of color? Is it a thing that women of color dont want men of color as partners??? After all a reimagining of the Disney tale is all about that perspective, seems like men of color got no "colored" game....😂lol

No matter what cringe or trash Disney or Marvel chucks at u, Jaby will always be there to receive them. Brave fighter for woke Disney/Marvel disaster 🤣

I disagreed with almost every take the girl had at the end, she was giving it wwaaaay too much credit.

Cringe

This wasn’t as bad as Mulan or The Lion King but it still felt soulless like most of the remakes. The new songs didn’t work as well as the ones from BaTB and Aladdin. Also why did the search party need torches in the day? That storm came on pretty quickly. It was lashing it down and none of the crew did a thing roll Eric yelled at them. Ridiculous. Part-time sailors or half-arsed writing.

I'm glad Jaby pointed out where my mind was by the end. It almost stops being Ariel's story really early on. As soon as she's on land, it's Eric's movie. All of the emotional beats, the reaction shots during moments, the denouement of story beats. The camera always seeks out Eric to see what he's feeling and thinking. In adding character development to him, it's almost like they veered too far in his direction. That was my main take away from the viewing. It was fine. It has some problems, and it was unnecessary. But it's fine for what it is.

No issues with the casting or anything dumb like that, but I couldn't get past the first 20 min. It was so bad. Love the original though.

No Offence To Anyone But The Casting Was Just Pure Bad. If You Don't Like My Statement Just Ignore It We Already Have A little mermaid 100 times Better than this 👌

Not y’all skipping over part of your world like it wasn’t noteworthy 🫠

Movie is trash, how much is the studio paying you to say its good?