Barbie in a Mermaid Tale 2 captures both of this summer’s movie obsessions

This summer’s list of big movies is flanked by two big girl features. On the one hand we have The little Mermaid, Disney’s latest live-action film, reimagining one of the most popular Disney princesses. And on the other hand we have Barbie, the theatrical live-action debut of the most iconic puppet in history.

It’s an exciting time to be someone who grew up with Barbie dolls and Ariel’s on-screen adventures. But for anyone who likes to mix their fun, it’s an even more exciting time to remember that there’s a long tradition of Barbie. if a mermaid among the dozens of direct-to-video Barbie releases out there. Barbie has been a mermaid in not one, not two, but five movies. While I won’t go into all the details here (our big roundup of Barbie movies coming soon enough), the best of them is Barbie in a mermaid story 2which isn’t just a good Barbie movie and a good mermaid movie, it’s a good movie in general.

Barbie in a mermaid story 2 is the third of Barbie’s mermaid films. (The first was not the original Barbie in a mermaid storyBut Barbie Fairytopia: Mermaidiain which Barbie played a fairy who turns into a mermaid.) You don’t actually have to watch the first one Mermaid story to get in on the action – all you need to know is that surfer Merliah Summers (played by Barbie, voiced by Kelly Sheridan) finds out she’s actually half a mermaid and the crown princess of an undersea kingdom. She saves that kingdom from her nefarious aunt, reconnects with her mermaid lineage and her mother, and launches into a double life as a surfing superstar who can transform into a mermaid via a magical necklace.

In the sequel, Merliah enters a prestigious surfing competition and reclaims her title from a new rival. But as luck would have it, this competition falls on the same day as an important mermaid tradition that her mother wants her to attend. They clash over this. That gives family tension Mermaid story 2 a head start on the original – and on a lot of mermaid media in general. (Though not a Disney original Little Mermaidwho has his own family tension to navigate.)

There are many stories of mermaids ending up on land (The little Mermaid, Aquamarine, Splashetc.), but there is also a separate subset of mermaid stories about people learning that they are part mermaid (H2O, The thirteenth year, The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea). So many of those stories focus on the reveal and end before they wonder what happens next after. There should be an inherent cultural clash to spend your whole life as an ordinary human being, only to find out that – surprise! – you’re actually part mythological creature.

That’s true Mermaid story 2 really shines. Yes, Merliah is thrilled to reconnect with her mom and learn more about being a mermaid, but she too is still a human. She has legs and she lives on land. She doesn’t understand how important the sacred traditions of mermaid culture are, but at the same time her mother doesn’t understand how important this one surfing competition is to her. The film plays out as a fantastical allegory for a second-generation immigrant story, where both sides have to work to understand each other.

Mermaid story 2 also shines when it comes to the relationship between Merliah and her rival Kylie. Tense rivalry is one of the many recurring tropes of Barbie movies, but not all Barbie movie rivalries are created equal. They are often unequal, with the rival hating Barbie’s character (usually because of a boy) and Barbie’s character being uninterested in the conflict. But Merliah and Kylie are top athletes in the same field, determined to be the best at what they do. That immediately enriches their relationship – and means that when they’re finally forced to work together and understand each other, their resulting friendship is all the more satisfying.

Mermaid story 2 came out in 2012, so it doesn’t exactly spark the nostalgia of titles like Barbie as the princess and the beggar or Barbie as Rapunzel. At the same time, it also doesn’t have the recency of anything like Barbie: epic road trip, one of the better interactive Netflix stories. So it’s likely that this is just one of many direct-to-video Barbie movies that has slipped through the cracks, at least for anyone who wasn’t in the exact demographic age for Barbie movies when it came out. Still, it’s a hidden gem for Barbie fans, representing the best of Barbie movies and the best of mermaid movies, and perfectly captures the zeitgeist of this summer.

Barbie in a mermaid story 2 is available to rent on Prime Video.