I haven’t had much luck in my movie reviews lately, so I’ll try and be as clear as humanly possible with this one so that you can have all the information you need to base your decision.
“Aquamarine” is the story of a mermaid who gets stuck on land for a brief period of time. She is found and befriended by two girls who are struggling with their own problems in the real world. The two girls are best friends who will soon be torn apart when one of them moving out of the country. When the mermaid informs them that if they help her, they can have a wish, they do everything they can to assist the mermaid in her quest for love hoping that they will be able to wish that the one friend, Hailey, won’t have to move.
Similar to “The Little Mermaid”, the mermaid in “Aquamarine” is on a journey to find love, 2006 style. She knows it exists, but hasn’t actually felt it herself in the vast waters of the ocean. She is set to be married to a man who she refers to as a “squid” and makes a deal with her father that if she can find love on land, she will not have to return and marry the man her father has chosen for her.
She explains her plight to Claire and Hailey and sets her sights on Ray, a guy who all the girls seem to have a crush on. After several lessons in love via Cosmo, they decide their course of action to get Ray to fall in love with Aquamarine in just three days. Unfortunately, every time Ray and Aqua seem to make a connection, she must run away and retreat to the water tower at sunset as to not display her mermaid tail which only comes into effect when the sun goes down. The chase continues, of course there are other stumbling blocks and I won’t give away the ending.
Now, this movie is probably most appropriate for girls ages ten and up. There is some reference to boys and kissing and things like that, but nothing overtly sexual or inappropriate. The main theme is that people are loveable and other people care about them. The movie also emphasizes that love doesn’t always have to be of a romantic nature, it can also be the loved shared among friends.
All in all, it’s a cute movie for kids. The acting isn’t all that great, but ten year olds don’t really care. Once the movie gets moving, it gets more and more entertaining.