The live-action adaptation of 'The Little Mermaid' has encountered intense reactions even before the film's production began. These reactions have continued after the movie made its debut in theaters last week. Despite accumulating a global box office revenue exceeding $200 million, the film has allegedly been targeted by 'review bombing'. In these instances, people post negative reviews online with the intent of lowering the movie's rating, often for reasons unrelated to the film itself.
Since its release, 'The Little Mermaid' has amassed 43,000 user ratings on IMDb, maintaining an average score of 7 out of 10 stars. This aligns with published critiques of the film, which stars Halle Bailey as the mermaid yearning to become human. IMDb, however, has placed a significant note at the top of the movie's rating scale. The note explains that their rating mechanism has detected unusual voting activity on the title.
To preserve their rating system's reliability, IMDb has applied an alternate weighting calculation. The casting decision of Bailey, a black actress, for the protagonist sparked controversy last year. Many attribute this choice to the unfavorable reviews the film has garnered. It is worth noting that past movies, including the 2016 all-female remake of 'Ghostbusters' and Marvel's 'Black Panther', have also been targeted by similar 'review bombing' campaigns.
