The film has a naïve charm that gives an inordinate amount of heart and humor to an otherwise cooked tale. Halle Bailey's voice and charisma carry throughout the film.
The film's diversity in ethnicities has triggered a predictable backlash of racism several years before its premiere. However, it would have been easy to feel skepticism about "The Little Mermaid" after some of the megafilm company's recent feature film adaptations of previous classics, such as "Dumbo," "Aladdin" and "The Lion King"