HalleBailey – Credits Rolling

Based on the Broadway musical that was based on the 1982 book by Alice Walker, The Color Purple has been reimagined by Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg for a new generation. The story follows Celie (Phylicia Pearl Mpasi and Fantasia Barrino) and her sister Nettie (Halle Bailey and Ciara) who are separated from one another when Celie is forced to move in with Mister (Colman Domingo). Over the years, Celie faces many hardships, but it is through the friendships she creates along the way where she finds her inner strength.

Unfortunately I have never read the book, nor have I watched the original 1985 movie, so I didn’t know what to expect going into this version. As the events unfolded before me, I soon realized that the material was pretty heavy so I am glad that music was incorporated.

The performances in the film are the true highlight. Barrino, who reprised her role from Broadway, delivered an emotional and raw portrayal to the main character that really had me feeling for her. Taraji P. Henson, who stars as Shug Avery, was electric, powerful and dominated every scene she was in. Danielle Brooks, who plays Sofia, really did give an Oscar worthy performance. And Domingo as the absolutely vile Mister really had me hating his guts.

Luckily they could all sing and sing well! The musical numbers were done brilliantly. I can only imagine how this must have looked live onstage. Unfortunately the plot sometimes fell a bit flat for me and the runtime was a tad too long, but the music really helped.

Overall, this version of The Color Purple is a high value musical extravaganza. It will make you laugh and it will bring tears to your eyes. It will also turn you into a dreamer. While it wasn’t perfect and it certainly could have been a tad bit shorter, it is well worth a watch.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️.5

We all know the story of The Little Mermaid. Created by Hans Christian Andersen and animated by Disney in 1989, this beloved classic has finally gotten the live action remake treatment. Over the years, I have come to tread lightly when it comes to these because I’ve been let down so many times (except for Aladdin which was brilliant). So while I was interested in seeing where they’d take one of my top five Disney flicks, I didn’t want to get my hopes up.

I am happy to report that I was pleasantly surprised with the film. The visual effects were stunning – yes there was a lot of CGI, but I wasn’t bothered by it. The vibrant colours of life under the sea was beautiful. I was completely transported away into this world that I almost wanted to pack my bags and become a mermaid myself!

The best part of the film, was of course, Halle Bailey. This is her film. All the people who were skeptical can step aside because she was born to play Ariel. She made the role her own while also incorporating bits and pieces from her origin. The facial expressions, mannerisms and her VOICE. Her fucking voice was perfection! When she sang Part Of Your World I had chills engulf my whole body and I never wanted it to stop.

In addition to Bailey, we had Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric who was a total clone of his animated counterpart. I was one of those little girls who had a major crush on Eric and to see him come to life like this was a treat. I thought the rest of the casting choices fit as well: Javier Bardem as King Triton was powerful though underused, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder was cute and ever so diligent towards Ariel and Awkwafina was laugh out loud hilarious as Scuttle. Unfortunately I didn’t care much for Melissa McCarthy’s Ursula as I’m simply not a fan of the actress herself. The stand out for me, however, was David Diggs as Sebastian. Every single moment of his was pure gold.

While they tried to bring this story into the 21st century, I didn’t care for many of the updates. The only new song I really enjoyed was Scuttle’s (though I might be biased because it had Lin Manuel Miranda written all over it). The added scenes didn’t really do anything to enrich what we already knew and the run time was a little too long.

All that being said, The Little Mermaid was much better than I ever thought it was going to be. Seeing this story come to life was a major nostalgia trip for me in the best way possible. I do think this is a step in the right direction for Disney going forward and hope it sticks.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️.5