A new twist on the classic tale.
A young reporter and his niece discover a beautiful and enchanting creature they believe to be the real little mermaid.
EA’s Review
This is a very bizarre film. It stars William Moseley (The Chronicles of Narnia) as a young skeptical reporter/writer and Poppy Drayton (The Shannara Chronicles) as Elizabeth “The Litttle Mermaid”. It also features Loreto Peralta (Instructions Not Included) as Elle, a girl with a strong affinity for all things magical and a curious resemblance to Alice (in Wonderland). Then we have Shanna Collins as Thora, a kind of gypsy/witch wearing an Esmeralda (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) costume, and there’s also a monster, sort of like a mix between The Monkey King and The Beast (Beauty and the Beast). And last but not least we have Armando Gutierrez as Locke, a sorcerer who will stop at nothing to protect what he thinks belongs to him. It’s worth mentioning that Armando is also producer on this film, having previously written and produced “Walt Before Mickey”, a biopic that focuses on Walt Disney’s beginnings. I suppose Armando is a big Disney fan and wanted to be involved on this project as much as he could, but I have to say that, unfortunately, his performance as the main villain is most of the time cringe-worthy. The movie is written and co-directed by Blake Harris. As far as I know, this is Blake’s first feature film and you can really tell. It feels like a “Once Upon A Time ” episode. If all the references that I mentioned are not enough, most of the story develops in Mississippi, either at a circus or on the river, the atmosphere feels like a combination of “Dumbo” and “The Princess and the Frog”. Also co-directing the film is Chris Bouchard, who has work in several film departments and is best known for writing and directing “The Hunt for Gollum”, a fan short-film set in Middle Earth, based on Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Lord of the Rings. In the end, The Little Mermaid (2018) is a fan film that, in the best of cases, tries to pay homage to several Disney properties, but in wanting to add “a new twist on the classic tail” fails to become a classic tail in itself. The bright side is that, apparently, the film had a wide distribution, so I guess that means that there’s still an audience who likes and wants to see fantasy films. The movie is not terrible, it has a couple of wonderful shots, I just wish they had payed more attention to the script and taken advantage of their main actors.
On a side note, Blake Harris and Armando Gutierrez are also working on an adaptation of Anastasia. I really hope they’ve learned from their mistakes.
Posters
Gallery
Trailers
Details
| Official Sites | Production Company Official Site |
| Director | Blake Harris Chris Bouchard |
| Writer | Blake Harris |
| Producer | Armando Gutierrez Robert Molloy |
| Cast | William Moseley (Cam) Poppy Drayton (Elizabeth) Shirley MacLaine (Grandmother) Armando Gutierrez (Locke) Loreto Peralta (Elle) |
Elias Movie Blog 