Just watched this again last night to get ready for 3

Anyway...I watched the original film, followed by "Return to the Sea". I liked 2 when it came out. I didn't love it, but felt it was alright. However, after watching again last night, I saw more flaws in it that made me question the direction the story went, and what happened to neuter some of the characters.

The first thing I noticed this time was the fact that Melody could talk to Sebastian, and Scuttle. Well...if the sea was forbidden, and her mermaid roots were hidden from her, why doesn't she question why she's able to talk to sea creatures? Also, why did Sebastian even show himself? He could have easily spilled the beans on the secret...he's proven he's a "soft-shell" in the past. It just seemed like a big plot hole.

Another instance is the big party scene where Sebastian causes mass chaos...while Ariel and Eric stand by and watch. How does Ariel not even see Sebastian, and the fact that he was hiding in her daughter's dress?? Shouldn't that scene have caused some major dialogue between Ariel & Melody? I mean, if that locket caused Ariel to freak out, shouldn't seeing Sebastian have caused more of a fuss??

It's funny, because I felt there were parts that could have been fleshed out better, and I kept wishing it had gone a different route. I mean, they could have even done better with Morgana. Sure, having Ursula's sister was kind of a copout, but they could have actually tried harder and made it more believable. For one thing, there were too many comic sidekicks...even for Morgana! She had 3 dumb assistants...none of them remotely threatening. At least in the original, Flotsam and Jetsam were kind of creepy. There just wasn't enough real dramatic tension in the sequel...

Anyway, I'm sure none of this is new to anybody, but I just wanted to share a couple observations I made after a second viewing of the sequel.