Is “Little Mermaid film ‘see-worthy’?

Continued from page 4 as though the editor is trying to minimize the unpleasantness by quickly cutting away from Scuttle.

Flounder (Jacob Tremblay, who also voiced Luca) doesn’t have this problem as much, mainly because once they go out of the water he’s essentially hidden under the surface. Daveed Digg’s Sebastian gets off easy, looking the most pleasantly cartoonish.

But then there’s that Jamaican accent that they decided to carry over (and this in a movie that adds a line about consent to “Kiss the Girl”).

Visibility is a problem for more than just Flounder, too. Sometimes “The Little Mermaid’s” 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 - I wasn’t 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 “Under the Sea” number, you even start to empathize with Ariel a little bit. It is the exact opposite of the “ Avatar: The Way of Water “ experience.

“The Little Mermaid,” a Walt Disney Co. release in theaters Friday, is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association for “action/peril, some scary images.” Running time: 135 minutes.

Retorts: Billboard bravado

Continued from page 3 of the city, at the very least, the council members should have expressed gratitude and optimism about the project, even if some corners needed to be sanded down.

Branded Cities is a heavy hitter, not some dreamer that’s all hat and no cattle.

On the the other hand, one town’s loss is another’s gain. I know of a city just across the street with lots of freeway exposure that’s a bit more welcoming toward such adventures.

In a zero-sum game, is Westminster willing to accept zero?

Jim Tortolano’s Retorts appears on Wednesdays and Saturdays.