Aquamarine - Die vernixte erste Liebe

Aquamarine was a nice, sweet movie. The twist in the ending was nice as well and original. However, the movie was packed with cliches. But, overall, it was enjoyable.

This movie was obviously aimed at the teen set, but I found plenty to enjoy in it. The story concerns two girls (one of whom is about to move with her mother to Australia) who find a mermaid. The mermaid informs them that they can have one wish for finding her. They must decide what it is. Also, Aquamarine (the mermaid) must find love within three days, or else her father will make her marry someone she does not want to. She thinks she loves a lifeguard hunk the girls also have a crush on, but he initially does not return her feelings.

There are several well-done scenes, including a bathtub scene, a dinner scene,a shopping mall scene, and a bike-riding scene. All in all, I think this was a charming little movie and recommend it.I think the girls were well cast and the mermaid scenes were cute, charming, well-made, and funny. You might like it.

** 1/2 out of ****

Aquamarine By Dean Kish For hundreds of years we have been fascinated with the nautical myth that there are beings in the oceans who are ½ fish and ½ woman. They are always young, beautiful and completely naive. Some classic films have captivated this obsession. The first biggest and most memorable film was the classic 1984 comedy "Splash" which really brought the myth back into the fore-front of our minds. Next was 1989's "The Little Mermaid" which stole our hearts and re-launched Disney's animation division.

Probably the most obscure reference and the most bizarre use of the mermaid myth was used in the short-lived TV series, "Maximum Bob" where an ultra right-wing judge (Beau Bridges) marries a psychic mermaid-performer (Kiersten Warren). There are a lot of scenes with Warren in an aquarium and dressed in her fish tail.

OK I have covered the biggest to the most obscure which brings me to "Aquamarine".

"Aquamarine" is a light-hearted preteen comedy about a naive mermaid, Aquamarine (Sara Paxton) who comes ashore to uncover the human myth called love. Helping her in finding this mythical emotion are two best friends, Claire and Hailey (Emma Roberts and JoJo), who befriend the mermaid. It turns out that the friends maybe separated forever when Hailey moves away. Aquamarine promises them a wish if they help her find true love so the girls, desperate to stay together, help her out.

This film is probably not a classic or will be fondly remembered in five years but for the audience it is aimed at it succeeds on many levels. I liked the performances of Emma Roberts and Sara Paxton. I even warmed up to JoJo a little.

What I kept saying as the film went on was how these three girls looked like junior versions of established actors. I felt that Paxton reminded me a lot of a younger Reese Witherspoon and Roberts reminded me some of her aunt, Julia Roberts. JoJo did also remind me of Lindsay Lohan but there isn't much of an age difference between them so you can't really say junior version.

I think that Paxton and Roberts have a lot of potential in their Hollywood careers. JoJo could have a career in film but does she have the ability to manage music and film like say, Hilary Duff. Only time will tell.

"Aquamarine" is a great little film if you have girls who are between 8 and 15 but other than that I can't really recommend it to anyone else. But you have to give it marks for succeeding so well in a pinch demographic. (3.5 out of 5) So Says the Soothsayer (dwkish@shaw.ca)

Even though I was forced to watch this with younger siblings, I actually enjoyed myself. Besides the movie Splash which was made years ago, I don't think there has been many mermaid movies. This one, although a little bit on the cheesy side, had a pretty good underlying message. Graphics were not extraordinary, but they weren't terrible. Jojo turned out to be a sarcastic, funny actress and Sara Paxton did a pretty good job on being the clueless mermaid. Emma Roberts was a little bit rusty on acting, but she can sure tear up. Yea it was cheesy, but what'd you expect, at least it wasn't unbearably cheesy. It was really just cute and I enjoyed watching it with my siblings.

"Aquamarine" seems the typical teen romantic comedy, and it is, but I'm not saying that this movie is bad, because is not. This movie is cute, funny and entertaining. It is a good comedy about friendship and love.

All begins when two teenagers, Claire and Hailey discover in their beach club's swimming pool a young mermaid called Aquamarine, who has escaped from an arranged wedding. She must find a love in three days, to show her father that love exists. Then she falls in love with the lifeguard Raymond. Claire and Hailey help her to get Raymond because if they help a mermaid they can get a wish, so they use their wish to stop Hailey' mom moving to Australia.

The cast includes Sara Paxton as Aquamarine, Emma Roberts as Claire, Joanna "JoJo" Levesque as Hailey and Jake McDormand as Raymond. "Aquamarine" is a cute comedy full of funny situations and love and friendship scenes. Don't miss this movie, it's not a waste of time.