Mei ren yu is the highest-grossing film in the history of mainland Chinese cinema, a slapstick action eco-fable about a beautiful mermaid (Jelly Lin) in love with the sinister real estate developer that she’s been sent to assassinate. See, the mermaids lived in a protected dolphin sanctuary, but the developer’s plan to drive the dolphins away with sonar left the mermaids burned and homeless. Director Stephen Chow (Kung Fu Hustle, Shaolin Soccer) and eight (!) other screenwriters cobbled together the relevant-but-ridiculous story, which starts off quite goofy and gets progressively less so.
21
March
2019