The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement Movie Review:


From My 12-Year-Old Self:

Dear Cindy,

I’m so lonesome since you moved away. Wish you could have been here for my 12th birthday party yesterday. Mom took us all to see “The Princess Diaries 2: Return Engagement” and we didn’t want it to end! It was awesome. Princess Mia looks very grown up now after graduating from college – but she’s still funny and klutzy sometimes when she should be all dignified and stuff. I couldn’t help laughing when she tried to learn how to shoot a bow and arrow and hit everything but the target. Some of Mia’s weird hairdos had most of the audience laughing a lot, too.

And guess what? Mia’s grandmother, Queen Clarisse, is retiring. No kidding! And Mia has to find someone to marry or she won’t get to be queen. You should see Nicholas, the yummy guy who’ll be crowned king unless Mia finds a husband. I was very disappointed when Mia got engaged to a boring Duke instead of to Nicholas.

I hope you get to see this movie, Cindy. You’ll get a kick out of the slumber party Mia puts on to celebrate her 21st birthday! She invites princesses from all over the world – and they go mattress surfing right in the main part of the castle. It looked like a lot of fun to me, but Mom didn’t seem to like that part of the film. To tell you the truth, I think Mom was disappointed because Queen Clarisse and her bodyguard didn’t dance together as long as they did in the first movie.

Don’t worry, I won’t spill the beans about how things come out and spoil everything for you. Still, maybe you can already guess what the happy ending will be? I know it didn’t take me long to figure out what was going to happen.

This is a very cute movie, Cindy, much better than the first “Princess Diaries.” I really liked the pretty clothes Mia and her grandmother wore to their grand occasions. It was also fun watching Queen Clarisse sing with Raven, who plays one of the princesses attending the slumber party. And you won’t believe this, but even the pets (a cat and a poodle) wear tiaras. They really do! Well, okay, that’s only in one little scene. Anyway, we all clapped at the end because we had such a good time watching Princess Mia again.

PLEASE write soon and tell me how you are doing.

Your best friend,

Betsy

Betty Jo Tucker

Five years after finding out that she was the heiress to the throne of Genovia, Princess Mia (Hathaway) returns after graduating from university ready to rule her country. Now that she has turned 21, her grandmother Queen Clarisse Renaldi (Andrews) is ready to hand the throne over to Mia but Viscount Mabrey (Rhys-Davis) has other ideas. He claims that his nephew Nicholas Devereaux (Pine) is the rightful heir and the only way Mia can be Queen is if she marries within thirty days.

The fairytale story of Mia Thermopolis’s discovery that she is a princess and future queen of Genovia continues but does this story have the magic to enchant its target audience, teenage girls?

Well, they should rejoice as Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement covers all the based that will keep them entertained for the whole of the 115 minutes. We have a dastardly villain, a beautiful Princess, a dashing future prince, a love rival and a predicament that will keep you enthralled until the end. This is all coated in a downpour of sugary, sweet goodness that will have the girls skipping around on a cloud of fairytale magic for days afterward.

The reason these movies work is the extremely likeable cast. In Anne Hathaway the silver screen has major star in the making. Besides from been incredibly beautiful and extremely charming, she has a girl-next-door quality that instantly endears you to her. She plays the clumsy, fish out of water Mia with ease, making the character immediately likeable and easy to care about. This is a real gift the actress has and her talent for this is not in question but it would be good for her career to try a few more varied roles as she leaves her teenage years behind. Julie Andrews brings her usual class to the proceedings. She oozes a certain regality that makes her perfect to play the Queen of Genovia. The chemistry between her and Gerry Marshall’s stalwart Hector Elizondo is very old school cinema. It is an impossible romance that needs someone to make a great sacrifice before their love can bloom. Elizondo is his usual deadpan self as the head of security for Genovia. This is a role that he plays effortlessly and he makes Joe a very likable character.

The supporting cast is also good. Chris Pine and Callum Blue, as the two suitors that Mia is torn between both make acceptable romantic leads with Pine taking the lead as the devilishly charming Nicholas Devereaux. John Rhys-Davis is a very boo-worthy villain as the dastardly Viscount Mabrey and Heather Matarazzo returns as Mia’s best friend Lilly.

Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement does everything it needs to do to appeal to its target audience. For everyone else, you have to bear in mind that this is a very audience targeted film and unless you enjoyed the first film, you wouldn’t be clambering at the bit to see the second. Teenage girls will rejoice however at the continuing adventures of Princess Mia and bathe in the sugary-sweet goodness of the story.

Star Rating = * * *

Jamie Kelwick

Site Contents Copyright© The Z Review, unless used with permission.This site has no intention to infringe on the rights of the film owners of The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement and intellectual copyright holders of the movies mentioned herein & hold copyright over the movie, characters, merchandise & storyline.