Critics reviews

This “Little Mermaid” is set in such an over-lit and airless 1930s America, all clattery typewriters, venetian blinds, and men wearing shirtsleeves and suspenders, that it might as well be a fairy tale transposed into another fairy tale. Aimed presumably at the least discerning of younger audiences, it makes “Splash” seem positively gritty by comparison.

With stilted sincerity, The Little Mermaid offers an idealized image of good Americans who cannot abide oppression or tyranny. Unlike in faith-based films, there is no greater power in Harris’s worldview. Magic is merely an individual trait: a vulnerability to be fortified by strength of character.