In 1989, Disney released “The Little Mermaid”, an animated film the studio desperately needed, following a string of underperforming releases in the years prior.

The blockbuster is considered to be the herald of the “Disney Renaissance”, which would later see classics like “Aladdin” and “The Lion King” finding their way into the studio’s most-cherished lineup.

Over three decades later, the film that lifted the Mickey Mouse company out of its rut is back on the big screen, albeit in live-action form. But is it any good?

Let’s get one thing out of the way first: ever since African-American actress Halle Bailey was cast as the titular mermaid, she has repeatedly and regrettably been subjected to racist comments.

Mermaids are fictional creatures, and being up in arms about a Black actress playing one is ludicrous. Folks furious at the alleged race lift might be interested to know that the original Hans Christian Andersen tale (tail?) was an allegory of the author’s unrequited homosexual love.

And even the animated movie was extremely different from the original story, which saw the protagonist dying at the end!

If fury must be vented, direct it at Disney for making another obvious cash grab targeted at nostalgic adults and impressionable kids.

In all honesty, this trend of Disney remaking its classic films into live-action retreads is wearisome. Most of them generally do not offer anything more than originals did, and, in certain cases, even made the predecessor far superior (here’s looking at you, “Mulan”)!

Yet, we live in a world where the 2019 remake of “The Lion King” occupies the seventh spot on the list of all-time highest-grossing films. Sigh.

Anyway, on to the review – though do you really need to be told the plot? All right, fine.

Bailey plays Ariel, a young mermaid who’s the daughter of Triton (Javier Bardem), king of the seas. Curious and adventurous, she is enamoured with the human world and ultimately saves the life of a dashing prince named Eric (Jonah Hauer-King).

Triton learns of this and gets into a spat with his daughter, which unintentionally drives her to seek the help of her sorcerer aunt Ursula (Melissa McCarthy).

In exchange for her voice, Ariel gets a pair of legs so she can finally explore the human world and meet Eric on the surface.

Of course, while romance blooms between her and the prince, Ursula has her own plans, with Ariel unknowingly being part of it.

And that’s really it. The film doesn’t deviate too much from the original, which calls into question why it was made anyway.

Aside from a few differences and the removal of certain dated characters – au revoir, Chef Louis! – the story pretty much goes where you expect it to go.

At the climax, a moment occurs involving Triton that could make viewers think director Rob Marshall was actually making a radical but welcome change. Alas, this is reversed later on.

So, is there anything good about the 21st-century version of “Mermaid” ? Well, despite the repulsive comments she has been bombarded with, Bailey is definitely not one of its fatal flaws.

She plays Ariel to her best abilities despite a mediocre script, delivering her lines with enough emotion and sincerity to make her performance praiseworthy.

Most of the singing duties fall upon her shoulders, including three new songs co-written by original composer Alan Menken and lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda (“Encanto”), and she executes them all with a great vocal performance, her rendition of “Part of Your World” being particularly excellent.

The other actors though, talented as they may be, simply don’t get enough time to shine. This is especially so for Bardem, who is probably the most capable actor in the entire cast.

McCarthy, at least, does seem to be having fun, chewing the scenery whenever she is onscreen in her delightfully devious way.

But does this make 2023’s “The Little Mermaid” worth a watch? Perhaps the bigger question is, why would you really want to, to begin with?

After all, if there was any justice in this world, audiences would rebuff Disney’s obvious and lazy attempts at cashing in on childhood nostalgia and let this trend of retreads sink.

As of press time, ‘The Little Mermaid’ is screening in cinemas nationwide.