Written by Jennifer
July 26, 2010
The film is basically a series of easily-anticipated pratfalls.
The Princess Diaries 2 catches up with Mia (Anne Hathaway) after she graduates college. She moves permanently to Genovia with her grandmother (Julie Andrews), and prepares to adopt her duties as future queen. Then the extraordinarily annoying Viscount Mabrey (John Rhys-Davies) makes a stink and cites an archaic law that requires a princess to marry before taking the throne as queen. If she doesn't do so in one month, he insists that his nephew is next in line to be king.
This doesn't set well with Mia, but she goes through the motions of dating and becoming engaged to a suitable young prince, but alas, there are no sparks. In an amazing twist, she falls for—hold onto your hat—the Viscount's nephew (Chris Pine)! Wow, didn't see that coming from the moment she stepped on his toe at a dance.
The film is basically a series of easily-anticipated pratfalls, "Oh gee, there's a fountain. They're going to fall in. Hmm, there are some stairs. Someone will fall down them. Mia is holding something. She will drop it." It's about as funny as a Dick and Jane reader. That's not to say that there's anything wrong with physical comedy, but it strikes me that the fall should at least come as a surprise to the person falling.
I'm seriously starting to question Garry Marshall's sanity at this point. The characters in this film are so G-rated and feeble-minded that it's impossible to take them seriously. Mia swears like Yogi Bear, and in a moment of rebellion, her friend (Heather Matarazzo) quips, "I'm a girl who loves black and who's wearing pink." Wow, sassy! For added fun, we’ve got the Viscount trying to spook a horse with a rubber snake and Julie Andrews singing with her ruined vocal cords. Oh, and do we have to keep mentioning the fairy tale ending by name? The Princess Diaries may be a phenomenon among teens and tweens, but there's really no excuse for confusing "family-friendly" with stupid entertainment.
