Mei ren yu (2016) Reviews

• Stephen Chow's trademark style of comedy is evident throughout "Mermaid"

  tiger-lion_eternalenemie2016-02-09

  This year's Chinese New Year is packed with Festive Films, from Monkey King 2, Vegas to Macau 3 to Mermaid. After watching all 3 of them, I have decided to only write a review for Mermaid because it is the only one worth the effort and time. The great thing about Mermaid is that while it is a comedy that brings the whole family together, it manages to bring in an underlying plot that teaches us important values about ecosystem and a life lesson about money and materialism. While not on par with Chow's masterpiece like Kung Fu Hustle or Shaolin Soccer, Mermaid is better than Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons. The slapstick style of comedy of Chow is evident throughout the movie, and the laughter by the audiences can be heard echoing throughout the cinema halls. A number memorable scenes provide some of the biggest laughs – such as when Shan made numerous botched attempts to assassinate Liu Xuan with various means and weapons from the sea. Newcomer Jelly Lin is the latest in a long line of "Stephen's Girls". Chow has the knack of discovering an illustrious list of talented actresses that include Karen Mok, Cecilia Cheung, and Vicky Zhao. Lin is the latest muse to channel Chow's range of rubber-faced physical comedy and deadpan delivery of killer lines. Jelly Lin is reportedly cast from auditions with over 10,000 hopefuls. While this film will not play extremely well with critics, it undoubtedly will have a good word-of-mouth as it is an entertaining movie with the right balance of humour, touching moments and good acting. After watching so many movies is this Chinese New Year, I can say that Mermaid is easily the best movie of them all. I look forward to Stephen Chow's next movie, and the opportunity for him to step in-front of the camera once more.

• The Mermaid doesn't know what it wants to be.

  robbieclaravall2016-05-21

  The Mermaid feels like a mix of random elements. I'll start off with the good; I did laugh at some parts. This movie is selling itself to be a Comedy through some advertisements and I believe the script handles the comedic actions well. Also the cast ensemble helped pull some of the funny aspects in the film as well. The first 2/3 of the film could be enjoyed merely as a Comedy; just something to have fun with and nothing really to over criticize or to over examine to the point of scrutiny. The last 1/3 is where this movie messes up; I mean really messes up. From comedy this film turned towards a very dark direction; showing the effects of us humans to nature as well as environmental issues, the film is even bold enough to exhibit real life footage of animals dying and being slaughtered and destruction of sea habitat. There's a lot of violence and blood, all the comedic atmosphere present in the first 2/3 suddenly wiped off and the result becoming a serious, imminent warning. Here's the thing; I don't mind dark elements being mixed in with humor. But the way it's done here makes us ponder what this film, in the end as an entirety, really wants to be because the way the light and dark are meshed in together here isn't done very well honestly. It felt random and the addition of the CGI (which I personally believe was poor) didn't help the serious undertone of the film trying to promote the protection of animal life and their ecosystem. Instead it made the film look goofy. So there's a romance in this film regarding the main character and the mermaid. First, it looked completely unrealistic since the chemistry came absolutely out of nowhere with the 2 characters dating all of a sudden (plus the random marriage proposal some days after they met). And in the end, the main character decided to help "save the environmental life" by donating all of his money and from destroying it he suddenly changed character to wanting to preserve it. The reason behind this was just because of his undying love for the mermaid which is part of that environmental life; I find that preposterous. There can be a lot of other reasons this film could tell us in its message on why to stop destroying ecosystems that can sound far more convincing and realistic instead of some stupid romance that has no chemistry or any of the sort. I'll commend this film for some of the humor it showed in the first 2/3 and how it tried to show environmental issues, but in the end, The Mermaid felt like wasted potential since the mix of the serious drama and the comedy didn't really work well. It felt unorthodox and wholly unrealistic especially when we look at how it portrayed several elements throughout.

• Better than I expected

  phoebelim962016-02-11

  Nice movie, better than I expected. The film's main message is about saving the environment. Scenes can be quite disturbing as they show real life footage of marine animals like dolphins being caught, sea birds covered in oil and the attack on the merpeople... There was lots of comedic moments throughout the film as expected. Special effects were obviously not as realistic as Hollywood films. Movie storyline started off light-hearted then gradually become grim. Shows how greed can destroy our world. Last few scenes made me cry. Love the way they portrayed the relationship between the mermaid and the guy. 7/10 stars. Several inappropriate scenes not suitable for children.

• Chow proves once again that the formula to a good movie is to tell a simple story well.

  aang-561162016-02-15

  This may not be a Stephen Chow masterpiece. It is not because this is a bad movie, it is simply because Stephen Chow has set a very high standard in classic like Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin soccer. Comparing to what is available in the cinemas since beginning of the year, this movie fares well. Complicated movie like Hateful 8 may be critic's favorite, but this movie does what a movie fundamentally should do, that is to entertain its audience. Stephen Chow prove yet again a good director needs just to able to tell his story well, to make a good movie. His visual sense is driven, not by a need to appear artistic and confusing, but to resonate with audiences. The result, a well made movie that is entertaining and a simple story told well by a gifted film maker. Chow has a gift for spotting talent and using them well. Not only he is brave in casting a newcomer to lead role. He is able to spot the that Deng Chao (better know as the Running Man) will be perfect as a comic male lead. He is likable, even when he is acting like a greedy spoil rich brat. He certainly oozes charisma. Under Chow's direction, he is able to master the act of comic timing and delivery. Best scene has to be the "failed assassination scene" where the interplay between Jelly (mermaid) and Deng Chao result in a stomach ripping experience for the audience. I used to think his wife (Sun Li) is the only credible actress in his family, after watching Deng's performance here, I am convinced he is more than a Running Man.

• Well made for China audience

  stmalaysia2016-02-22

  I started to like Stephen Chow's movies since Shaolin Soccer. In order to maximise my enjoyment, I go for this movie without reading any reviews, especially from those who are always quick to write a review like a book. Anyway, I can trust that a Stephen Chow movie needs no reviews and quality is guaranteed. So being impressed with the poster, I set my hopes high. In order not to spoil anyone's fun, I will not describe the story or details. Generally, one can see that Stephen Chow's aim in this movie is to smash all China's box office and he did it successfully, with some good messages as usual; about love, humanity and environmentally friendly here, filled with romance, comedy, action and even a good old song. What else do you need for a movie to sell well ? Nothing else. For China audience who have not seen too much of Stephen Chow and where people do not have too high demand on artistic values, they are sure to enjoy it very much. For me, I don't like this style of "mo-lei-tao" comedy and I find them too much here. Much of the jokes are also old and predictable, although done in a good way. The male and 2 female leads are good. Most of the other supporting casts are poor. The 2nd male lead just cannot act and his face just don't match the role. Using that great classic HK song from the 80s is obviously to please the Chinese but made the movie less creative. This movie don't deserve any awards unless they give it for the same reasons like Titanic. Overall, I find this movie not as good as his last 4 because it doesn't give me much surprises.