It鈥檚 not Rob Marshall鈥檚 fault that Disney鈥檚 latest live-action retread doesn鈥檛 really sing. 鈥淭he Little Mermaid,鈥� a somewhat drab undertaking with sparks of bioluminescence, suffers from the same fundamental issues that plagued 鈥淭he Lion King,鈥� 鈥淎laddin鈥� and 鈥淏eauty and the Beast.鈥� Halle Bailey might be a lovely presence and possesses a superb voice that is distinctly different from Jodi Benson鈥檚, but photorealistic fins, animals and environments do not make Disney fairy tales more enchanting on their own.

The essential problem is that the live-action films have prioritized nostalgia and familiarity over compelling visual storytelling. They try to recreate beats and shots from their animated predecessors, defiantly ignoring the possibility that certain musical sequences and choices were enchanting and vibrant because they were animated, not in spite of it.

There was, in the 1989 film, a sparkling awe to everything. The underwater castle. The mermaids. Eric鈥檚 ship. Even Ariel鈥檚 bright red hair. Combined with the wonderful songs and lyrics by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, it鈥檚 not hard to understand why it helped fuel a Disney Animation renaissance.

Anyone who has gone through the recent Disney鈥檚 live-action library would be right to approach 鈥淭he Little Mermaid鈥� with caution. Still, there鈥檚 excitement as the camera takes us underwater to give us our first glimpse of the mermaids 鈥� even after a somewhat ominous quote from Hans Christian Anderson that begins the movie (鈥淏ut a mermaid has no tears, and therefore she suffers much more鈥�). You can鈥檛 help but be hopeful. But the first mermaid that comes into focus doesn鈥檛 so much evoke wonder as it does a flashback of Ben Stiller鈥檚 merman in 鈥淶oolander.鈥� The technology is better, sure, but the result is about the same. Worse, as we spend more time with them, following Ariel鈥檚 multicultural sisters as they gather around their father King Triton (Javier Bardem), it鈥檚 hard to shake a distinctly uncanny valley feeling. It鈥檚 like gazing in on roundtable of AI supermodels with fins.

For all its pizazz, everything about this 鈥淟ittle Mermaid鈥� is just more muted. Miranda鈥檚 new songs are odd, too, and don鈥檛 seem to fit. Prince Eric鈥檚 (Jonah Hauer-King) makes sense, maybe even Ariel鈥檚 in-her-head anthem after she gives her voice to Melissa McCarthy鈥檚 Ursula, but did Scuttle really need a song, too?

Speaking of Scuttle, the cute cartoons that stood in for Ariel鈥檚 seagull, crab and fish friends have been replaced with horrifyingly accurate depictions of said animals. Awkwafina鈥檚 comedy charms can only go so far while looking like an actual seagull who might be after your chips at the beach. Close-ups of its beady blue eyes are unsettling, though it was probably a good call to go blue over gold, which looks a bit demonic even in the cartoon. Sometimes it seems as though the editor is trying to minimize the unpleasantness by quickly cutting away from Scuttle. Flounder (Jacob Tremblay, who also voiced Luca) doesn鈥檛 have this problem as much, mainly because once they go out of the water he鈥檚 essentially hidden under the surface. Daveed Digg鈥檚 Sebastian gets off easy, looking the most pleasantly cartoonish. But then there鈥檚 that Jamaican accent that they decided to carry over (and this in a movie that adds a line about consent to 鈥淜iss the Girl鈥�).

Visibility is a problem for more than just Flounder, too. Sometimes 鈥淭he Little Mermaid鈥檚鈥� underwater sequences just look too underwater. Things are cloudy and dull and hard to see, once again probably in the name of authenticity, but straining to see what Marshall and the scores of VFX teams have labored on for years is not a pleasant experience. This could be a projection issue 鈥� I wasn鈥檛 in an especially high-tech theater with color enhancing upgrades. But that also means anyone without access to things like Dolby Vision around the world will have this issue, too. When Sebastian brings out the most colorful fish he can find for the 鈥淯nder the Sea鈥� number, you even start to empathize with Ariel a little bit. It is the exact opposite of the 鈥� Avatar: The Way of Water 鈥� experience.

鈥淭he Little Mermaid,鈥� a Walt Disney Co. release in theaters Friday, is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association for 鈥渁ction/peril, some scary images.鈥� Running time: 135 minutes. Two stars out of four.

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MPA Definition of PG: Parental guidance suggested.

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