Disney's Live Action The Little Mermaid

[LittleBuford]

It's more than just that. There's been plenty of D+ sub par material, as well as marvel having a huge dip in quality. And while we will never know what the box office would have been if we didn't have covid. But the movies that were released straight to D+ were in no way classics in my opinion. Personally there has been a whole lot of mediocre at best for the past few years in my opinion.

But there’s also been a lot of great Disney+ content, and the recent Guardians film has been very well received.

My problem isn’t with people pointing out weaknesses and failures in Disney’s output. I myself have been pretty critical of some of their recent films. What irritates me is the sensationalist, alarmist, and highly tendentious way in which it’s all being spun, particularly by those posters who clearly have an ideological axe to grind and sound almost gleeful about what they see as Disney getting its just deserts.

“Disney has lost Midwestern moms!”

“They won’t succeed again until they stop being woke.”

“Another flop and it’s all over for Disney!”

Such a narrative not only ignores history (the company has had low points before), but also downplays the success of some of the stronger films and shows that have come out in recent years. It just gets a bit much when it’s repeated again and again in thread after thread.

 

[TalkingHead]

Perri Nemiroff is most certainly a film critic. You probably are referring to some of the other tweets, but your post is following Perri's a bit unfortunately.

This was reactions to the premiere. Not a social media fan event, invited critics were in attendance.

That said - I very much doubt this will by any means post a super fantastic rotten tomato score, but that doesn't particularly matter. It's being made for general audiences and they seem to not align well with critic perception (particularly Lion King and Aladdin).

Judging from her RT page, she leans heavily toward positive reviews even for largely-panned titles. Just saying.

 

[erasure fan1]

But there’s also been a lot of great Disney+ content, and the recent Guardians film has been very well received.

Yes there's been some good. I'm a big Mando fan, all 3 seasons, and Andor was quality. But there's also been a lot of just plain bad. Pinocchio, lady and the tramp, Artemis fowl, home alone...

My problem isn’t with people pointing out weaknesses and failures in Disney’s output. I myself have been pretty critical of some of their recent films. What irritates me is the sensationalist, alarmist, and highly tendentious way in which it’s all being spun,

Well unfortunately it becomes a ing contest. When someone does bring up something like the CG and character design in mermaid looking awful, an opinion that's 100% valid. The other side immediately jumps in with the obligatory, well don't see it then! Or, you just hate Disney and want them to fail.... In my opinion it gets taken too far on both fronts.

 

[Jedijax719]

I think the one thing people may find a little jarring is that the underwater scenes don't show moving water. When Ariel moves her tail about in the clips, it doesn't leave a wave of moving water or bubbles so she may look like she's just floating in the air.

 

[BlakeW39]

The film will make a lot of money. No where near as much as The Lion King, but it will make a lot of money nonetheless. Probably less than a billion though, and probably less than Disney would have made from the film say, 3 or 4 years ago.

 

[BrianLo]

Judging from her RT page, she leans heavily toward positive reviews even for largely-panned titles. Just saying.

So that somehow invalidates her as a film critic?

I never implied she was a predictive barometer of the aggregate (RT). Just that she is a critic and actually a fairly well regarded one. She has her tastes like everyone, but isn't on Disney's bankroll.

 

[MisterPenguin]

I think the one thing people may find a little jarring is that the underwater scenes don't show moving water. When Ariel moves her tail about in the clips, it doesn't leave a wave of moving water or bubbles so she may look like she's just floating in the air.

Huh?

When we see bubbles come off a propeller, that is because the propeller is moving so fast it created cavitation.

I don't remember seeing cavitation bubbles coming off the tail of a slow moving dolphin (something comparable to a mermaid).

 

[DisneyHead123]

Regarding the theater release… it seems to me that post Covid, there have been few to no stereotypically “female” movies that have shined at the box office. Not sure why, but I feel that’s the trend. It seems to apply to both kid movies and adult movies. Will be curious to see how a “usually this would be a blockbuster” type movie with a largely female audience performs in a post Covid world.

 

[Jedijax719]

Regarding the theater release… it seems to me that post Covid, there have been few to no stereotypically “female” movies that have shined at the box office. Not sure why, but I feel that’s the trend. It seems to apply to both kid movies and adult movies. Will be curious to see how a “usually this would be a blockbuster” type movie with a largely female audience performs in a post Covid world.

Well this isn't going to be like Crazy Rich Asians just in the fact that TLM is also a family and kids movie. So while it may be considered more female-oriented than, say, Guardians of the Galaxy or Fast X, it has a larger draw than just adult females. But, yeah, it does tend to lean more in that direction that Lion King (a typical 4-quadrant film), and Aladdin (had a male draw due to the male lead and Will Smith). But it certainly isn't as much as Cinderella. Probably more on the lines of Beauty and the Beast.

 

[DKampy]

SThis thread said theyWhen someone does bring up something like the CG and character design in mermaid looking awful, an opinion some that's 100% valid. The other side immediately jumps in with the obligatory, well don't see it then! Or, you just hate Disney and want them to fail.... In my opinion it gets taken too far on both fronts.

well someone in this very thread said they just want to see Disney fail without watching the film sooooo

 

[TalkingHead]

So that somehow invalidates her as a film critic?

I never implied she was a predictive barometer of the aggregate (RT). Just that she is a critic and actually a fairly well regarded one. She has her tastes like everyone, but isn't on Disney's bankroll.

Well, yeah. If you’re a film critic handing out positive reviews to sequels and fodder that’s widely derided, your taste as a critic is gonna be called into question. The state of film criticism in the US at least is in the gutter, so props to her for making a living doing it. But if clicks depend on being invited to premieres and posting about it, you’re gonna tip the scales toward positive reviews more times than not. That’s how the game is played.

 

[TalkingHead]

Regarding the theater release… it seems to me that post Covid, there have been few to no stereotypically “female” movies that have shined at the box office. Not sure why, but I feel that’s the trend. It seems to apply to both kid movies and adult movies. Will be curious to see how a “usually this would be a blockbuster” type movie with a largely female audience performs in a post Covid world.

Equally curious what kind of business this does internationally.

 

[LittleBuford]

Well unfortunately it becomes a ing contest. When someone does bring up something like the CG and character design in mermaid looking awful, an opinion that's 100% valid. The other side immediately jumps in with the obligatory, well don't see it then! Or, you just hate Disney and want them to fail.... In my opinion it gets taken too far on both fronts.

This is a canard, though. Yes, some posters come down heavily on those who express any criticism, but the idea that there are two neatly drawn sides is demonstrably false. Where would that leave me as someone who doesn’t think that Disney is failing yet didn’t hold back from calling Lightyear and Peter Pan & Wendy boring? The criticisms that do tend to elicit defensive reactions are those made on the basis of incomplete information or even no information at all. There are numerous posters here who seem to enjoy gleefully declaring their dislike of things they haven’t seen and have no interest in seeing. Is it any wonder that they’re challenged for what can only be described as the forum equivalent of review bombing?

 

[LittleBuford]

Huh?

When we see bubbles come off a propeller, that is because the propeller is moving so fast it created cavitation.

I don't remember seeing cavitation bubbles coming off the tail of a slow moving dolphin (something comparable to a mermaid).

Bubbles appear whenever there is underwater movement in the animated film. It may not be accurate, but it’s what some people have come to expect.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Bubbles appear whenever there is underwater movement in the animated film. It may not be accurate, but it’s what some people have come to expect.

The bubbles of the singing crab are totally unscientific.

 

[Jedijax719]

Okay I had to look at Way of Water clips and I noticed they didn't have them either. So I redact that complaint lol. The movie is perfect (even though I haven't seen it LOL).

 

[DisneyHead123]

Well this isn't going to be like Crazy Rich Asians just in the fact that TLM is also a family and kids movie. So while it may be considered more female-oriented than, say, Guardians of the Galaxy or Fast X, it has a larger draw than just adult females. But, yeah, it does tend to lean more in that direction that Lion King (a typical 4-quadrant film), and Aladdin (had a male draw due to the male lead and Will Smith). But it certainly isn't as much as Cinderella. Probably more on the lines of Beauty and the Beast.

I mean certainly princess movies have done really well in the past. It just seems like post Covid, women and girls haven’t gone back to theaters though. With the kids I know, it’s always boys I hear talking excitedly about Jurassic World, Sonic, Minions, Mario Brothers. Not sure if theater movies are more like video games now (largely a stereotypically boyish hobby) or if there just haven’t been any good options for women and girls recently.

 

[DisneyHead123]

Equally curious what kind of business this does internationally.

Internationally it seems like the same movies dominate the box office as they do domestically, but hard to say if that’s due to demand or lack of options. I can’t think of any princess movies or rom coms that have been released with a big production budget post Covid.

 

[Prince-1]

I mean certainly princess movies have done really well in the past. It just seems like post Covid, women and girls haven’t gone back to theaters though. With the kids I know, it’s always boys I hear talking excitedly about Jurassic World, Sonic, Minions, Mario Brothers. Not sure if theater movies are more like video games now (largely a stereotypically boyish hobby) or if there just haven’t been any good options for women and girls recently.

There is so much wrong about this post.

 

[erasure fan1]

well someone in this very thread said they just want to see Disney fail without watching the film sooooo

And if we're talking about the same person, they want mermaid, NOT Disney as a company, to fail because they want Disney to go away from the live action remakes. That's a perfectly valid opinion to have. You might not like it, but that doesn't make it wrong. There's enough of a sample size to say, I think the live action remakes are terrible. You might love them and want Disney to remake the remakes. But a lot of people would prefer they put their focus elsewhere.

Yes, some posters come down heavily on those who express any criticism, but the idea that there are two neatly drawn sides is demonstrably false

So there's a group of posters who come down on criticism, you agree. And a group that is overly negative. That's two groups, I never said there was only 2 groups. I said the 2 groups get into a P-ing contest making things worse.