KUALA LUMPUR, El Sky News – Ahead of its premiere scheduled for December 25, the highly anticipated sequel, Duyung: Legenda Aurora, is currently facing a wave of negative reactions from the online community.
While many are excited to revisit the nostalgia of the original Duyung (2008) film, that excitement has been somewhat dampened after the official poster for the fantasy romantic comedy began circulating on social media.
Observations on platforms such as X and Facebook found that most netizens expressed disappointment over the graphic design quality of the poster, which was described as outdated and “lackluster.”
Much of the criticism focused on the editing techniques, which were deemed unrealistic—particularly regarding the lighting and the integration of the characters into the underwater background.
“For a film carrying such a big brand name, the quality of this poster is very disappointing. It looks like an amateur edit and does not reflect the caliber of the cast involved,” commented one netizen, whose post garnered thousands of likes.
Gaining even more attention, several local graphic designers have openly offered their services to re-edit the poster to ensure the film’s image looks more professional and on par with modern filmmaking technology.
However, despite the controversy surrounding the graphic design, support for the original cast and director remains strong. Many fans still expressed their intention to head to the cinemas to see the continuation of the legendary mermaid story that sparked a phenomenon 16 years ago.
As of now, the production side has yet to issue a response regarding the criticism. Nevertheless, this situation proves that Malaysian audiences are becoming increasingly critical and sensitive to every promotional aspect of a creative work, rather than just focusing on the star-studded cast.
Will this harsh criticism prompt the production team to pull off a last-minute surprise? We shall wait and see when Duyung: Legenda Aurora hits cinemas nationwide this Christmas.
(Leakim Otid)
