The Mermaid

"Half Fish, Half Human, 100% Assassin."

2016 1h 34m ZH

👍

6.6

SOLID

★6.6TMDB · 502

ComedyFantasyRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

When Xuan's real estate project threatens the home of mermaids, Shan is sent to stop him. When they fall in love, he is encouraged to cancel the project. However, he must save them from bigger danger.

“Half Fish, Half Human, 100% Assassin.”

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Cast

Lin Yun
Mermaid Shan
Deng Chao
Liu Xuan
Zhang Yuqi
Ruolan
Show Lo
Brother Eight
Tsui Hark
Uncle Rich
Wen Zhang
Constable Mo
Kris Wu
Long Jianfei
Lee Sheung-Ching
Constable Shi

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Stephen Chow
Writers: Stephen Chow, Kelvin Lee Si-Zhen, Andrew Fung Chih-Chiang
Languages: Mandarin
Countries: China, Hong Kong

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $61M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 9.1× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 10 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: China, Hong Kong.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Stephen Chow, shot by Choi Sung-Fai. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jack Tang Man-To shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Lin Yun and Deng Chao and Zhang Yuqi carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Half Fish, Half Human, 100% Assassin.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Stephen Chow directs. Choi Sung-Fai behind the camera. Jack Tang Man-To cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in China, Hong Kong. Dialogue in Mandarin.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $61M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
2Made its money back 9.1× over at the box office.
3Released 10 years ago.
4International production across 2 countries: China, Hong Kong.
5Directed by Stephen Chow, shot by Choi Sung-Fai. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Editor Jack Tang Man-To shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Lin Yun and Deng Chao and Zhang Yuqi carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Half Fish, Half Human, 100% Assassin.".
9IMDB entry: tt4701660 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Released under 16 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Choi Sung-Fai
Editing: Jack Tang Man-To
Production design: Bruce Yu
Makeup / hair: Laura Calvo
Sound: Cuson Liu Ka-Man
Runtime: 94 min · 1h 34m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $60,720,000
Box office: $553,810,228
Return: 912% of budget
Original language: ZH
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Mermaid (2016)

Also by

Stephen Chow

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Reno2016-08-18
★ 4/10
A modern Chinese fairytale. This is from one of the renowned filmmaker from China, Stephen Chow. The film holds the numerous records, including the highest grossing Chinese film of all time. So anybody would be curious enough to check it out. This is highly inspired by the western fairytale 'The Little Mermaid', but totally a Chinese. It carries a strong message about the marine life and pollution, especially that coming from China is obviously not usual. A great theme for a Mandarin film to get exposed to the International stage. An appreciable effort with the decent graphics, but it's filled with lots of negatives than leaving a good impression on the viewers. The story is very important for a film and this is a very simple and short, but the remaining is packed with the comedies and stunt sequences. The film opens with the introduction of a multi- billionaire Xuan, who unveils his new sonar project on the coast Green Gulf where marine creatures consider it as a paradise. On the other side the shrunken to a very few, the merpeople plot to kill him. So they send their finest young mermaid, Shan to seduce him, but instead it creates a chaos when she falls in love with him. The final standoff between the man and merfolks set to reveal who will be the victorious at the end and the fate of Green Gulf. If you are a die-hard fan of Stephen Chow, be prepared for a big disappointment. He's out of his comfort zone here. Thankfully, he did not star in this crap. His strength are comedy and martial arts, but this film was none of them. I mean it is categorised as a comedy, but those parts were too sensitive to call them jokes. You won't be laughing much because of the killing, hurting, tortures, kind of upsetting events draws us away from enjoying it. So if you think it is a cute mermaid love story aimed for children just like CJ7 and if you allow them to watch it, you might regret it later. "Love has no law. It is beyond any rules and boundaries." I don't know what is the rating for the domestic release, but this is definitely an R. It is certainly for adults and not everybody going like it. Looks like a film made for the local market only despite the influence of the western fairytale. It might have done well in Chinese box office, but the rest of the world does not consider it Mr. Chow's one of the best works. I think he should stay away from such project in the future, instead make a sequel for CJ7 or for the 'Kung Fu Hustle' where his fans are very eager for the official announcement. If you had seen all his film, especially the directed ones, then you might enjoy some of the jokes from this which is his trademark. The romance was underdeveloped and then the event followed by it that brings the grand finale was too violence. That is when this fantasy-comedy turns an action-thriller without a forewarning. I was shocked for such kind of transformation in the story. I wanted to like it, but could not because I expected something like a Disney film, but it was more like a semi Tarantino film. The addition of a cecaelian character was good from the comedy perspective. But just one from its kind makes him the last survivor and have sympathy than as he's the centre of the comedy in the narration. The overall story as well as all the main characters were never established to its full potential. I'm disappointed with the writing, the director is known for genuine screenplay, but he terribly failed to please his international fans. Of all, I only hope there won't be a follow up to it because we want the old Stephen Chow. He's better than this and I'm sure he will come strong. I can't recommend this film for children or the families, the youngster who are not very sensitive might be the right audience. 4/10

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