It's not unusual for sequels to strain not only to match or exceed their predecessor in terms of artistic merit or entertainment value, but also to come up with enough new material to fill their running time. That's one of the reasons -- and is usually the most dominant -- why so many sequels feel like lame, recycled and reheated cinematic leftovers.
Such is the case with "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement," the follow-up to the popular 2001 film that put star Anne Hathaway on the map and reintroduced Julie Andrews to yet another young audience set. The film was essentially a modern retelling of the old Pygmalion/My Fair Lady story about an unrefined young woman getting the makeup, attire and social makeover best suited for someone destined to be the next queen of a fictional European country.
Now that some years have passed, she's graduated from college and just turned 21, thus meaning she's returned to her birthright to replace her grandmother as the leader of their country. Needing a complication and villain to replace Mandy Moore and some royals who wanted the throne from the first film, screenwriter Shonda Rhimes ("Crossroads," HBO's "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge") has inserted a marriage clause, a power hungry member of Parliament and his charming and roguishly handsome nephew into the mix.
Comedic and romantic developments are naturally supposed to ensue. Yet, returning director Garry Marshall ("Raising Helen," "Pretty Woman"), who hasn't met a comedy he couldn't paint with broad and sloppy strokes, constantly feels as if he's stretching the material to its breaking point in trying to fill the film's unnecessarily long 120 some minute runtime.
The picture feels anemic at best and simply lacks enough romantic or comedic momentum to keep any but the youngest of fans of the original interested in this lame continuation of the fairy tale saga. At least the first film had the advantage of introducing the premise and characters to its audience, and it possessed all of the protagonist training and retrofitting material. Hathaway also did a decent and fairly entertaining job portraying the gangly and clumsy teen who -- to the delight of young girls everywhere -- did the usual duck to swan changeover.
Although there are still some styling sessions (and plenty of other seemingly obligatory montages), the filmmakers thankfully don't make Hathaway do all of that same shtick over again here. A few moments of the clumsy behavior are back, however, and they feel as old and recycled as the other forced slapstick humor that's present.
The filmmakers have added all sorts of supplemental material (a romantic subplot between Andrews and her head of security, a slumber party complete with mattress surfing, etc.) and various running gags (the princess' new and overzealous handmaidens, the royal announcer who sounds like he's trying to channel Bill Murray's military vocalisms from "Stripes," etc.) but none of them work either.
It certainly doesn't help matters that the main plot (concerning the Viscount and his nephew trying to prevent the princess from becoming the queen) is to easy to spot and then figure out where things will be headed long before they occur.
Granted, the film is aimed at younger and presumably less discerning viewers, so I suppose it should be cut a tiny bit of slack. Yet, the same could have been said about the likes of "Shrek 2" (where Andrews also played the queen) that told a similar style story but knocked it out of the park with a great deal of creativity, imagination, smarts and good old-fashioned storytelling prowess.
Although she isn't given a great deal to do and thankfully doesn't have to play quite so bumbling of a character as she did the first time around, Hathaway ("Ella Enchanted," "Nicholas Nickleby") is fine in the lead role. The likes of Julie Andrews ("Victor/Victoria," "The Sound of Music"), Hector Elizondo ("Raising Helen," "Pretty Woman") and Heather Matarazzo ("Saved!" "Welcome to the Dollhouse") also reprise their roles from the original.
While the latter is shortchanged in terms of material or need to even appear in the film, Andrews again brings a tone of regality and sophistication to the part, and even gets to sing again on screen (albeit only shortly before being joined for a pop duet by actress Raven who has a brief cameo moment).
John Rhys-Davies ("Raiders of the Lost Ark," the "Lord of the Rings" films) will seem appropriately menacing as the villain to the target audience but will likely bore most everyone else. Chris Pine (making his feature debut) is supposed to be the dreamy Prince Charming, but instead comes off about as flat and boring as the character purposefully played that way by Callum Blue (who's appeared in some little seen works).
If you liked the first film and didn't mind its various problems and/or deficiencies, you might feel the same way about this sequel. On the other hand, if you didn't care for or despised the 2001 film, you'll likely view this offering as being as bad or worse than the original. "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement" may just rate highly with young girls, but failed to impress or entertain yours truly (who doesn't fall into either category). It rates as a 3 out of 10.
![[Screen It]](/images/underground_header.jpg)