The Mermaid

Image credit: Netflix Aus/NZ

I think the wonderful thing about genre is that it translates into any language. Like facial gestures, there are modes and themes that are universally recognisable and help you to enjoy –or dislike- a film even if you don’t speak the language. One such film that I spent an enchanting night in with was Stephen Chow’s The Mermaid.

An unoriginal, but still very sweet story The Mermaid tells the tale of a rich business owner (Chao Deng) destroying the marine ecosystem with his property developments and a beautiful mermaid (Jelly Lin) sent on a mission to seduce and assassinate him. After an unsuccessful murder attempt the two end up on a date and falling in love. Will she choose love over her own kind? And what will happen if he finds out what she really is?

Forbidden romance stories are as old as the hills and despite its lack of a Rastafarian crab singing about life under the sea, The Mermaid stands as a charming fantasy movie and romantic comedy. Chow’s clever mixture of genre satire and physical comedy could subdue the gag reflex on even the most gooey and clichéd love story, which proves useful here as it lulls you into such a complete state of chilling-out-with-a-popcorn-flick that you can’t even get annoyed about Chow’s misogynist treatment of his female characters.

An entire cast of women feature in this film and none are really shown in the best light. We’ve got the business-driven femme fatale who turns into a jealous bitch when the leading man’s attentions aren’t on her, there’s Shan the mermaid who plays the role of innocent and endearing cute girl that charms the lead with her naïve sincerity, and then a whole score of women that are just gold diggers. One woman we can admire is the grandmother mermaid who is not only the epitome of wisdom, but also a total badass.

Image credit: Express Elevator to Hell

The film is a mixture of sincere love story and bumbling spy comedy, as the story is rich with character transformation and enlightenment while all of the visual, laugh-out-loud moments come from the mermaids’ botched attempts at being assassins. Memorable scenes like the octopus cooking his own tentacles rather than blow his cover or Shan’s attempts to kill Xuan literally backfiring while the hapless lead dances like there’s no one watching completely make up for the film’s gender profiling and questionable special effects. For a quiet night in, it’s worth a look.

Starring: Chao Deng, Jelly Lin, Zhixiang Luo, Yuqi Zhang, Ke Xu, Zhang Wen, Yifan Wu, Shangzheng Li, Zhengyu Lu, Chi Ling Chiu, Mei-e Zhang, Rina Matsuoka, Barbie Liu, Zhen Zhen Xu, and White-Ke

Country: China