The Mermaid is at its heart, a morality tale about protecting the environment. It centers on wealthy tycoon Liu Xuan (Chao Deng), who has gotten around land reclamation restrictions on a property that he’s just acquired by using technology to drive away the marine wildlife in the area. But his device doesn’t just drive them away; it harms them. And this piece of ocean property happens to be a mermaid habitat. Shan (Jelly Lin) is trained to go up to the surface and seduce Liu Xuan, so that she can lead him into a deadly trap. But things get complicated when the two actually fall in love.
The Mermaid is a Stephen Chow film, and those familiar with his brand of comedy will find a lot of the usually inspired nonsense that the actor/director brings. Chow is the master of escalating comedy, and there are scenes in here that find a ridiculous number of hilarious variations to what is essentially the same joke. It might be something as intricate as a series of assassination attempts, or something as stupid as two policemen failing to draw a mermaid. The movie is at its best when it latches on to something silly and just goes with it.
Unfortunately, that isn’t all there is to the film. There is a genuine attempt to be dramatic within the farce, and it doesn’t quite work. The film takes a melodramatic approach to its more serious content, and this creates a really big disparity in tone. It goes overboard in the wrong way, doubling down on violence and creating horror in its attempt to get at its very serious message about protecting the environment. But the violence feels incongruous, especially when earlier scenes play bodily harm off for laughs.
It does not help that so many of these serious scenes are so reliant on computer-generated visual effects. This is the film’s biggest failing. If the movie were just a silly thing, it would be easier to forgive the shoddy effects, which look at least fifteen years behind the curve. They convey a sense of whimsy not present in these sequences, which involve the killing of innocents and a vague sense of corporate mistrust. The film’s darkest or most triumphant moments end up looking like scenes from an old video game.
But the film is still very funny, owing a lot to the very committed performances from the cast. Chao Deng takes the role that Stephen Chow would have taken just years ago. The young actor has large shoes to fill, but he ably takes on that challenge. Jelly Lin doesn't quite have the presence to pull off the mermaid role, but she clearly does her best, projecting a weird mix of innocent nefariousness at key moments. The standout in the cast, though, might be Show Luo, who as Octopus, rattles off brilliant nonsense like no one else.
Following his last two movies, it’s good to see Stephen Chow somewhat return to form with The Mermaid. CJ7 and Journey to the West have sporadic charms, but they didn’t quite have the manic energy of his previous films. The Mermaid offers a glimpse of that older Stephen Chow, of the man who could sustain a single joke over an entire sequence, and keep building on it until it becomes sublime. Unfortunately, that isn’t all that’s in there, and the disparity in tones makes the film a mixed experience at best.
My Rating:
