Movie Review by Neils Hesse
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Julie Andrews, Renaldi Hector Elizondo, John Rhys-Davies
Director: Garry Marshall
Once upon a time there was a kingdom called Genovia and as we all know a kingdom cannot exist without a ruler and Genovia was no exception. After the death of their king the apparent sole heir to the throne was the Princess Mia (Anne Hathaway) but all that is another tale that has already been told. This tale continues from where we last left Mia in PRINCESS DIARIES just as she had accepted to be Genovia’s princess.
Princess Mia along with her grandmother and current ruler of Genovia Queen Clarisse (Julie Andrews) arrive in Genovia with expectations of seeing Mia become the new ruler. Alas the situation drastically changes when it is revealed by a senior Genovian statesman (John Rhys-Davies) that Mia is not the only heir to the throne but that indeed his nephew Lord Nicholas Devereaux (Chris Pine) is also a legal blood heir. In a modern day society this would not stand in the way of Mia taking the throne, but alas in Genovian society the law states that in order for a female to rule she must be married so in order for Mia to be Queen she must first get hitched. Mia is now given a matter of weeks to get married or lose her place as the Queen of Genovia. Meanwhile Lord Devereaux is instructed by his power hungry uncle to charm Mia into falling for him so that she does not become Queen. Surprisingly Mia finds a perfect suitor to be her prince but at the same time she finds herself drawn to Lord Devereaux even though it is he whom she is meant to be fighting for the crown. Mia must now choose to either do what is right for her or what is right for the crown. Meanwhile the Queen must also deal with some matters of the heart as her rule comes to an end, her long serving bodyguard (Hector Elizondo) reveals his true feelings for her.
Garry Marshall returns to direct the sequel to THE PRINCESS DIARIES. He throws in a love story to highlight the growth of his main character the princess but other than that it is business as usual with the concentration on the journey that the princess makes from prospective to capable ruler.
Anne Hathaway is great in her role and she brings a natural sweet goofiness to her character that makes you want to see her princess succeed. Julie Andrews is the perfect queen but also a concerned grandmother and a woman who also has desires of her own – a very graceful performance with a heartwarming surprise for all her fans. The supporting cast all handle their roles very well in particular Chris Pine as the charming Lord Devereaux, he is at times reminiscent of a very young Alec Baldwin.
This is a fun movie aimed at the family and at girls worldwide whom we all know wish deep down that they were princesses.
