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Views & r(E)views
By Mike & Paula Parker
"The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement"
Disney
"The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement" gets a decisive "thumbs sideways" with a wobble towards up if you liked the original "Princess Diaries."
While the first film played the "ugly duckling turns into a beautiful swan" card, "Royal Engagement" draws on the Cinderella fairy tale for its inspiration. Princess Mia Thermopolis, played charmingly by Anne Hathaway, has now graduated from college and is flying to Genovia where her grandmother, Queen Clarisse, played by screen legend Julie Andrews, is getting ready to retire. Clarisse intends to hand the throne over to Princess Mia, but Viscount Mabrey wants the crown for his nephew, and invokes a long forgotten Genovian law that requires a young woman to be legally married before she can become queen.
Oh, golly gee, what shall we do? Oh, I know. Let's throw a royal ball and invite all eligible bachelors. Thankfully there is no Cinder-Fella and no fairy Godfather. Instead Mia must choose between two blow-dried Ken dolls - Viscount Mabrey's nephew, Lord Nicholas Deveraux, and Duke Andrew Jacoby.
Anne Hathaway gives a delightfully goofy performance, showing that she can play physical comedy along with serious drama. The always dapper Hector Elizondo is fetching as Queen Clarisse's head of security and secret paramour. And veteran comic, Tom Poston generates some laughs with his slightly inebriated schtick. But the high point of the film for me was hearing Julie Andrews sing on screen again. After undergoing throat surgery a few years back it was doubtful she would ever sing again, so her song during Mia's bridal sleepover/shower was a bit of a tearjerker.
Yes, "Royal Engagement" is a bit too long, and a bit to contrived, and a bit to clichéd. And at times it seems like one big product placement opportunity. But that doesn't stop the actors from having a good time. Tweens and pre-teen girls will dig it.
Family Factor: Rated G. There's really not much offensive material here for parents to worry about. This film is, however, about the lifestyles of the rich and royal. The beautiful people have all the beautiful stuff, so expect your daughter to want to go to the mall after viewing this paean to consumerism.
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