This was a decent movie. My wife played it for me while I was cooking dinner, and before you know it, I was locked in.
Based on a novel of the same name, the premise of The Princess Diaries is certainly intriguing enough. A coming-of-age Cinderella story with a twist -- Cinderella is not the damsel in distress. She's comfortable in her own awkward shy teenager shell.
The film has all the ingredients of a successful film. And the film was wildly successful. It has a dream team of cast where everyone is as perfectly cast as they can be, starting with Julie Andrews as the queen and Anne Hathaway in her breakthrough debut as Mia. Directed by the veteran of Cinderella films Garry Marshall (Pretty Woman), the film was a low risk bet for Walt Disney.
For the intended audience (young and preteen girls), the film hits all the right notes. Mia's transformation scene is easily the highlight of the film, and it is very effective and well shot.
Yet, the film just didn't work for me. The movie is just all too familiar and predictable. The scene where Mia discovers her heritage carries surprisingly very little revelation and reactions. And the climax just didn't arouse warm reaction it intended to generate. Worse of all, there are just too many cliched and cringe inducing scenes.
All in all, the film is worth casual family viewing. But for me, the strong cast and competent direction couldn't overcome weak screenplay.
Slightly above average preteen movie. It has its funny moments, tho.
Rated a Connor 10, normal 7.5
Just another great Disney classic revolved around the idea of happiness and fairy tale book endings as this follows a teenage girl living in San Francisco with her mother who one day gets the news from her estranged grandmother that she is the heir to the thrown in a small European country which throws her into a world wind of deciding to not accept it and continue to be the shy weird girl or embrace it. The casting is partly what makes this a classic with Andrews and Hathaway. The plot development is great and there are a lot of great ups and downs and the way each character is introduced makes it easy for the audience to fall in love. However, this movie doesn't blow you away, its just a cute good movie.
:heart::heart::heart::heart::heart::heart::heart::heart: - A very funny comedy mainly aimed at young kids, but entertaining to adults nonetheless.
My rating system works:
10:heart:- Masterpiece :100:
9:heart:- Excellent
8:heart: - Amazing :ok_hand:
7:heart:- Great :sun_with_face:
6:heart: - Good :thumbsup:
5:heart: - Average :head_bandage:
4:heart: - Bad but watchable :octagonal_sign:
3:heart: - Bad :sob:
2:heart:- Awful :face_vomiting:
1:heart: - Bull Shit.
“courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear. the brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all."
Me trying to figure out how a "Fabergé merry-go-round" as a birthday gift didn't prompt Mia to maybe wonder who the heck her dad is:
:thinking::thinking::thinking::thinking::exploding_head:
Thank you IMDB for listing uncredited cast… As a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fan, I'm ashamed I didn't recognize René Auberjonois' voice as Philippe Renaldi.
It goes on for a bit too long, but 'The Princess Diaries' is just about a good film.
Anne Hathaway (Mia) is the star no doubt, she's the only character I'll likely remember from this 2001 production. Julie Andrews (Clarisse) is decent too, while Héctor Elizondo (Joe) is extremely likeable in his role. There's also a (incredibly) small appearance from 'The Walking Dead' alum Karl Makinen.
I found the plot a little tedious to watch in parts, not helped by a few cringey gags. I also, in live-action/non-fantasy films, always find it difficult to believe in fictional places - in this case "Genovia". It's a small gripe of mine. Anyway, I do of course appreciate and rate the overall message of the film.
Overall, when all is said and done, I did narrowly enjoy watching this. The main reason being Hathaway, but also the moral of the story.
Shout by ErwinBlockedParent2023-01-11T22:10:31Z
I was genuinely surprised when the reporter started speaking Persian. ʘ‿ʘ