Rating: R ( a lot of violence!)
Run Time: 1 hour and 34 minutes
Summary(imdb.com):
Shan, a mermaid, is sent to assassinate Xuan, a developer who threatens the ecosystem of her race, but ends up falling in love with him instead.
My Review:
I first found this movie at my local library, and was surprised by its innocent cover with R rating. After doing some research, I also discovered this movie was a big hit in China!
The movie starts with a disturbing amount of environmental destruction, and shows some actual clips of whale slaughter from around the world. While this was sad, it shows the viewer the harsh reality that corporations don't care about our environment. The corporation in this movie used sonar to clear out a rich and thriving ecosystem known as Green Gulf.
One quote that I loved was "What's more important than money? A drop of clean water or a breath of fresh air."
But let's get to the mermaids- they were gorgeous! I loved Shan's tale, which was sleek and graceful. There is also another strange merman, who is half octopus. The mermaid clan also uses echolocation, and have a clan leader as well.
There were some weird moments in this movie. Shan the mermaid has cut her fins so she can walk on land among humans. There were also some corny jokes thrown in the dialogue.
Towards the end of this movie, it started to get real graphic. The mer-clan is viciously slaughtered by humans, and Shan herself is almost killed in the arms of her lover. I feel like this movie promised a lot of action, and that Shan was going to be a strong yet cute assassin, but it was a very weird and disturbingly violent version of The Little Mermaid.
I give this movie (***) 3 stars.
-Sirenita The Selkie