Really Surprised!

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

I vaguely remembered this sequel to the amazing The Little Mermaid from my childhood. The only thing I remembered was the new villainess, Morgana. And, you know what, that explains everything. I watched it this evening and tried hard to decide what to say about it. The end result was that apart from a few scenes everything was handled lazily. The songs are forgettable, the animation is boring, most of the characters are bland and the story is predictable. I do not hate it, it was just bland. The returnng characters of Ariel and Eric are constantly showing bad parenthood. Morgana threatens their newly born daughter, Melody, and they decide to keep her away from the sea. Does this sound like a bad rehash of the first movie? Exactly. As an adult you know almost exactly what is going to happen. The songs are forgettable, the animation is boring, most of the characters are bland and the story is predictable. I do not hate it, it was just bland. There are also these new comic relief characters whose antics we see too much. They made me smile once in a while, but I would've liked to see a more developed plot or more interesting characters.I sat with a feeling of emptiness almost all the time. Stuff just happened and was never explored. The time with Morgana was okay, perhaps because of Pat Caroll's delicious voice. It did not offend me as much as "Belle's Magical World" or "Hunchback II" and the climax of The Little Mermaid: Return to the Sea is rather decent, but overall the movie is strictly for the kids who has no sense of judgement.

The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea is in my opinion, one of the worst direct to video sequels ever made.The Bad: 1. The characters are not as likable as they were in the original. Melody is an atrocious character. I think she is an infantilised version of Ariel, in terms of both personality and appearance, also very annoying and unlikable, Ariel plays as a boring and generic mother figure, Morgana is a pale imitation of Ursula, and Eric goes from a fairly likable character to a boring character, Flounder plays as a boring and generic father figure, King Triton served no purpose in the film and Tip and Dash are a blatant rip-off of Timon and Pumbaa, the list goes on. 2. The music, both the score and songs are terrible. Unlike the original, where Alan Menken provides a beautiful film score and some good songs, with Part of Your World being the best song in the original. 3. The story is way too similar to the original, only differences being story told in reverse and being dumbed down for younger audiences.The Good: 1. The only characters in this film I like and am interested in are Sebastian and Undertow. They both give me a chuckle. 2. The animation is at least pretty good, but that is not saying much. Ariel is still very beautiful, just like in the much superior original and prequel and television series, her character design has always got a good balance of youth and maturity, and that is the reason why I think she is gorgeous. Keep in mind that I said "beautiful", not "hot", since "hot" has a sexual connotation to it, which I do not like or condone the use of the word and think it is inappropriate. And this is coming from a male who is a supporter of gender equality. Just because I commented on one female character's appearance does not mean I condone anyone to catcall other women, which I don't, because it's wrong. But I digress. 3. The voice acting is solid, with Jodi Benson reprising as Ariel, Kenneth Mars as King Triton, Edie McClurg as Carlotta, Samuel E. Wright as Sebastian, Buddy Hackett as Scuttle, Rene Auberjonois as Chef Louis and Pat Carroll as Morgana as returning talents, all do a decent job. New talents include Tara Strong as Melody, which is OK, I guess, Clancy Brown as Undertow is hilarious, Max Casella as Tip, Stephen Furst as Dash, Cam Clarke as Flounder, Rob Paulsen as Eric and Kay E. Outer as Grimsby all do a solid job. Not enough to save the movie, sadly. 4. The best part about this film is that it is much better than any of the English-language dubs of Studio Ghibli, which are highly nationalised versions of Japanese animated films, as well as capitalising on the fame of Hollywood movie stars, the salt in that particular wound. But with The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, being a direct to video film at least keeps it true to its identity, as well as trying to entertain me, even if it fails to do so. Also, watching it in English, the original language, has international cohesion to it, which is a good thing, but that is not enough to save this movie, unfortunately. So overall, watching Studio Ghibli films in the English dubs is much, much worse than watching this movie. This movie still sucks, nonetheless.Overall, this an awful direct to video sequel that I do not recommend to anyone. Watch the original film, prequel or television series. They are much better than this pile of garbage.

This sequel started quickly with both song and things happening, and it set the rest of the story up with some regrettable decisions made rashly by Ariel and Eric. The thing is, it's at its surface a story about a girl trying to figure out where she belongs (similar to the original film), but really it turns out to be more of a story about adults making ill-considered decisions that have serious consequences. Ariel and Eric have gone from being lovestruck young adults to exactly the kind of insufferable parents that most of us will know: once they marry and pop out a kid, it's used as an excuse to neglect their family and lifelong friends, despite what anyone wants or would think.The fact that no-one seemed to mention how ludicrous they thought Ariel and Eric's decision was does seem regrettable, but at the same time it's also understandable since it ultimately wouldn't have done any good. Instead of sealing Melody off from the ocean, a wiser choice would have been simply informing her of the dangers, accompanying her, teaching her safety in the water and, well, being honest instead of being deceptive. That deception and lack of trust are more or less entirely what put her and indeed everyone into serious danger.Melody is a fine lead, starting to understand that decisions have consequences and that the world is not always as promising as it seems. Tip and Dash are cute and likable, and similarly likable and compelling are Morgana and her minions. In fact, to be honest, I liked Morgana more than anyone else. She may have been the villain, but she had a compelling and understandable reason to do what she did. She was, in many ways, more admirable than most of the other characters for at least her honesty with herself.The songs are fine, and they are not excessive in number. The animation is fine as well. It's a fun enough little adventure. Although I will say that it's completely understandable why Melody isn't too happy on land -- what a bunch of little trolls at her party! And her parents don't act to do anything at all until it's too late. Sheesh. No wonder she ran away. The same can be said of the penguins -- no wonder Tip and Dash didn't want to stick around.The ending was a little too pat, but it was okay and probably the best they could manage with the story. To be quite honest though, I don't see how it was really much of a decision to be made; Melody was deeply unhappy on land. But it left enough open that we can imagine what happened later.Ariel and Eric did realise that what they were doing was wrong and that honestly they were at fault for what happened. That's a pretty amazing thing for films like this. More often, you see condescending parents smugly never admitting their mistakes, or the script making it seem like they were somehow right for what they did. Melody made some bad decisions, but seriously, she is twelve years old and anyone who receives their fondest desire is surely to be more than slightly influenced by that. Realistic character writing made this noteworthy.In summary, this was a perfectly fine film. I think most of the people who lashed out at it were people who saw themselves making those same bad decisions Ariel and Eric did and resented being called out on them. It doesn't make the film bad; maybe you should assess your life choices a bit.

The Little Mermaid had always been my favorite movie ever since I was a kid. When I heard that there was a second one I was so excited. So, I went to watch it and I was highly disappointed. It will NEVER be anything compared to the Original. The plot had absolutely NO thought or creativity in it being made. It's basically the same plot as the original but reversed. *SPOILER* So sweet, naive, adorable, curious 16 year old Ariel gets turned into a dull, boring, no personality mother. Her child, Melody,grows up to be a little 'adventurer' and wants to explore the ocean. But, evil Morgana, Ursulas "Sister" that we never recalled her even having, tricks the her into stealing the Trident then all hell breaks loose.The Penguin and the walrus are just franchised versions of Timon and Pumba. Flounder, cute silly little flounder,is turned into some fat, nasal congested blob. Prince Eric sounds a hot mess and he is absolutely USELESS. The girl,Melody, is such a freaking nuisance.And may I advise you to wear some shades the animation is too bright, and colorful. There's just no magic in it as the first. This isn't even a sequel its the original movie is what's real. The new people in Disney are just unskilled, uncreative gold-diggers.Please don't give them the satisfaction. Don't waste your money.