Film Reviews

The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

• Rating:
• Director: Garry Marshall
• Starring: Anne Hathaway
• Details: US/ 120 mins/ (G).

If that title alone wasn't enough to scare you off, perhaps that this fairytale sequel was directed by Garry Marshall, the chap responsible for Pretty Woman, Runaway Bride and a host of other crimes against good taste, might hasten your departure. For, not surprisingly, this limp sequel barely bothers to disguise the fact that originality and artistry are not chief amongst the concerns of the makers of The Princess Diaries 2.
In case you haven't guessed already, the heroine of the first movie, Mia Thermopolis (Hathaway) is on the cusp of womanhood, having just graduated from college. Heading over to the small principality of Genovia with her grandmother, Queen Clarisse Renaldi (Andrews), Mia starts to fulfil her royal duties as the monarch in waiting. Yet what's this - the princess must get married, according to some ancient laws? Cue some romantic intrigue comes in the shape of two young chaps - Blue and Pine - who battle for Mia's hand in marriage...
The Princess Dairies is so resolutely tailored toward a specific market that it is less a film and more a collection of incidents. Whereas the first offering, limited as it was, at least had some fun with the outlandish premise and the central character's transformation, The Princess Diaries doesn't even have this to fall back upon. Bereft of any element of surprise, the film trundles along at a terminally slow pace, smothering its audience in cliches and fairytale staples. Don't do it kids.

Review by Garreth Murphy