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A
mermaid (Christy Cheung) loses her magic pearl to a young high school
teacher whose life she saved; in trying to get it back she is forced
to assume human form and look for the teacher. As a result she must
learn how to adapt to modern Hong Kong. She disguises herself as
one of his pupils and soon they fall in love, but then she's kidnapped
by some profiteers who discover that she is in fact a mermaid.
From the outset it is obvious that this is influenced by the American
film 'Splash'. The director has merely taken the basic plot structure
from that film and transposed it onto modern day Hong Kong. Many
scenes from the original are recreated such as the discovery that
the girl is a mermaid and the ending where she is captured. This
film does offer something different though, as the underwater scenes
(of which there are a few) are brilliantly executed and shot. This
is enhanced even further by the clever use of camera angles and
also the mermaid costume is quite convincing (for a Hong Kong film).
Christy Chung is well cast as the mermaid and brings all of her
onscreen charisma to the piece. Perhaps she is a little old to play
a convincing schoolgirl but this is a minor detail. The ending though
is badly conceived and all a bit too convenient. Ekin Cheng cannot
be with Christy because she is a mermaid so he says his goodbyes
and then goes off to wallow in self pity. But all is not lost...
Ekin bumps into a human girl who looks exactly like Christy, falls
in love with her and all his problems are solved! He's happy again!
Basically a high school drama and clearly aimed at teenage girls
this film does entertain and rises above the other HK movies that
try to emulate a Hollywood hit. The cast all rise to the occasion
and Takashi Kaneshiro shows early promise as a school badboy, although
perhaps Ekin Cheng is a bit wimpy for a leading man. A well shot
fun film that isn't high art but instead a watchable diversion.
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