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Princess Diaries 2 - Royal Engagement, The
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment // G // December 14, 2004
List Price: $29.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
"Anything?"
"I want to say yes, but...there was no spark."
That exchange from The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement does a reasonably good job of summing up how I feel about the movie itself. This lazy, dull follow-up to 2001's unexpected smash hit picks up several years after the last installment. Mia Thermopolis (Anne Hathaway), princess of the sleepy little country of Genovia, is now a college graduate. Having just celebrated her 21st birthday, she's of age to ascend to the throne, taking over for her grandmother, Queen Clarisse Renaldi (Julie Andrews). Mia plans on learning more at her grandmother's side before taking the crown, but a stumbling block forces her hand. Viscount Mabrey (John Rhys-Davies) schemes to pull the strings of the monarchy, announcing that his nephew Nicholas (Chris Pine) is eligible to reign as king. Dredging up an ancient law that's long been ignored, the parliament insists that either Mia marry within thirty days to be eligible to serve as Genovia's queen, or Nicholas will be crowned in her place. Mia doesn't want to marry someone she's not in love with, but she's willing to make that sacrifice if that's what's best for Genovia. She's quickly engaged to one of Britain's most eligible bachelors, Andrew Jacoby (Callum Blue), but Mia finds herself inexplicably drawn to the charming Nicholas, who really might not be such a bad guy after all, despite his uncle's machinations. Draw this out over two hours and toss in some lightweight gags, and that's The Princess Diaries 2.
I'm quick to make the distinction between a family movie and a kids' movie. A family movie is something everyone in a family can sit down and enjoy; a kids' movie is geared towards a much younger audience, and parents and older siblings are forced to suffer through it. The original Princess Diaries was a family movie, and even though I'm over twice as old as the film's target demographic and the wrong gender entirely, it completely won me over. The basic story may have been the same standard Pygmalion retread we've all seen a half-dozen times over, but its wit, charm, and endearing performances elevated the material. The sequel, on the other hand, is a kids' movie.
The Princess Diaries 2 goes through many of the same motions as the original but doesn't pull them off nearly as well, seeming more like a blurry fax of the original than a worthwhile sequel. The basic premise is hopelessly predictable, trying to coast on the charm and sweetness of the original movie without infusing the sequel with any of its own. The light quirkiness of its predecessor seems forced here. Mia holds a princess slumber party, and they careen down a slide on mattresses. Okay. Julie Andrews sings a duet with Raven Simone. Okay. There's a closeup of a fountain -- golly, will Mia fall in? Okay. Wow, that guy in the Royal Guard talks really loudly. Okay. It's so uninteresting and uninvolving, from Mia's bland "where are they now?" rundown of her co-stars from the original movie to the end credits I so desperately wanted to see make their upward crawl across the screen. The first Princess Diaries strained to fill its two hour runtime, but its sequel is hopelessly bloated, and the glacial pacing will likely leave many parents agonizingly staring at their Timexes. I felt more involved in the love story between Joseph and Clarise than I did with Mia's quest for a husband.
There are a couple of reasons that Mia's clumsy fumbling and pratfalls seemed so funny in the original. First, they often kind of crept up by surprise -- it's not much of pratfall if you see it coming. The most memorable moments daisy-chained the chaos together. Mia would accidentally trip or torch something, and that would set a hysterical series of events into motion. I think at its core, though, these sorts of moments got a laugh because Mia seemed so awkward and uncomfortable, something that's easy for most to identify with, and her embarrassment was shared with the audience. The Princess Diaries 2 flounders in each of these ways. Director Garry Marshall takes great pains to telegraph every gag in advance, offering lingering closeups and occasional explanations of everything involved. Mia's clumsiness doesn't inspire any grand comedic setups this time. When she falls or trips, that's the beginning and end of the joke. The original film mixed some fairly clever dialogue in with the physical humor, an approach that's ditched in the sequel.
In part, the comedy's less successful because the filmmakers just aren't trying, but I think there's kind of a fundamental problem with it too. Not to sound like I'm scraping up my single semester of film in college, but Mia's a static character this time around. Before, there was a journey -- she started off as a gawky, unpopular girl and emerged an elegant young woman. In The Princess Diaries 2, Mia is substantially the same person at the end of the movie as she is at the beginning. There's a female empowerment angle she might not have been able to rattle off before, and she's adorned with some new accoutrements that might be difficult to accessorize, but other than that, she really hasn't changed. Since Mia is very much a princess now and has shed most of that awkwardness, I don't think she's as easy to relate to, and the comedy takes a hit as a result. The fact that so much of the humor is uninspired and relies excessively on callbacks to the original movie doesn't help much either.
There are still quite a few of Meg Cabot's novels that have yet to be adapted, but if The Princess Diaries 2 is the best Garry Marshall and company can be expected to churn out, it's probably best that the film franchise not go any further.
Video: The 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer isn't much more impressive than the movie itself. While colors and black levels are reasonably robust, the level of detail is lackluster, often leaving the pastoral backgrounds as a soft smudge. The image is further marred by the presence of edge enhancement and sporadic softness. Not unwatchable or tremendously disappointing, but thoroughly unremarkable. A separate full-frame version is also available.
Audio: The Princess Diaries 2 features Dolby Digital 5.1 audio (448Kbps), although like most movies in its genre, the surrounds and subwoofer are used sparsely. Virtually all of the activity is anchored across the front speakers, where its dialogue comes through without any problems or concerns, and the inoffensive teen-pop soundtrack sounds decent enough. There's nothing about the soundtrack, positive or negative, that compels me to say much more. The DVD also offers a six-channel French dub (384Kbps), closed captions, and subtitles in English, French, and Spanish.
Supplements: There are eight deleted scenes with introductions by Garry Marshall, which combined run just under seventeen and a half minutes. There's a 'Play All' feature, which, at least on the DVD-ROM where I tend to look at most of the extras in my reviews, seemed pretty wonky. It'd start an introduction, then skip straight to an entirely different feature on the disc. These scenes include talks of tunnels, raining pears, the viscount mocking Mia in front of parliament, Anne Hathaway doing her best Audrey Hepburn, a puppeteering parody of the princess, an explanation "why there's a big fat slide in the middle of the ballroom", and a brief bit with a cranky queen. This footage is followed by four minutes of "Royal Bloopers", which is pretty much the usual clowning around on the set.
"Making a Royal Engagement" (15:37) is a better than average 'making of' featurette. Since it was produced especially for this DVD and not as some sort of pre-release EPK, it's allowed to do more than have the actors reciting the plot in between extended clips from the film. Some of the ground it covers includes building Genovia from the ground-up in Burbank, most everyone in the cast doing Garry Marshall impressions, setting up the duet between Raven and Julie Andrews, and the recording of the movie's soundtrack.
"The PD2 Makeover" spends eleven minutes following Anne Hathaway's stand-in getting dolled up, with some brief comments from Anne interspersed throughout for good measure. "Find Your Inner Princess" is a quick quiz that reveals what kind of princess you are. According to the results, I'd apparently make a pretty good one, although some of these questions were pretty tough. I mean, I hadn't really invested much thought where I'd prefer to have my first kiss with Prince Charming. Kind of buried under all these submenus is an audio commentary with star Julie Andrews and director Garry Marshall. It's mostly cute banter and random stories, but the track's pleasant enough to listen to, even if it doesn't offer a tremendous amount of insight into the filmmaking process. Rounding out the extras is a music video for Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway", which is halfway set in a theater showing Princess Diaries 2.
A bunch of Disney sneak peeks are not surprisingly tacked on as well, including plugs for a special edition of Bambi, a teaser for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Young Black Stallion, Where the Red Fern Grows, the 40th anniversary edition of Mary Poppins, and Mulan II.
The Princess Diaries 2 is packaged in a solid white keepcase, and its insert lists the disc's twelve chapter stops. The DVD also includes a set of 16x9-enhanced animated menus.
Conclusion: The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement is a dull, unnecessary sequel to a movie that really deserves better. Parents of younger fans of the original may want to give this a rental, but I wouldn't recommend it as a purchase, and viewers teenaged and older probably shouldn't bother at all. Rent It.
Related Reviews: If you're bored, feel free to read my review of the original Princess Diaries.
"I want to say yes, but...there was no spark."
That exchange from The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement does a reasonably good job of summing up how I feel about the movie itself. This lazy, dull follow-up to 2001's unexpected smash hit picks up several years after the last installment. Mia Thermopolis (Anne Hathaway), princess of the sleepy little country of Genovia, is now a college graduate. Having just celebrated her 21st birthday, she's of age to ascend to the throne, taking over for her grandmother, Queen Clarisse Renaldi (Julie Andrews). Mia plans on learning more at her grandmother's side before taking the crown, but a stumbling block forces her hand. Viscount Mabrey (John Rhys-Davies) schemes to pull the strings of the monarchy, announcing that his nephew Nicholas (Chris Pine) is eligible to reign as king. Dredging up an ancient law that's long been ignored, the parliament insists that either Mia marry within thirty days to be eligible to serve as Genovia's queen, or Nicholas will be crowned in her place. Mia doesn't want to marry someone she's not in love with, but she's willing to make that sacrifice if that's what's best for Genovia. She's quickly engaged to one of Britain's most eligible bachelors, Andrew Jacoby (Callum Blue), but Mia finds herself inexplicably drawn to the charming Nicholas, who really might not be such a bad guy after all, despite his uncle's machinations. Draw this out over two hours and toss in some lightweight gags, and that's The Princess Diaries 2. I'm quick to make the distinction between a family movie and a kids' movie. A family movie is something everyone in a family can sit down and enjoy; a kids' movie is geared towards a much younger audience, and parents and older siblings are forced to suffer through it. The original Princess Diaries was a family movie, and even though I'm over twice as old as the film's target demographic and the wrong gender entirely, it completely won me over. The basic story may have been the same standard Pygmalion retread we've all seen a half-dozen times over, but its wit, charm, and endearing performances elevated the material. The sequel, on the other hand, is a kids' movie.
 |
| "Mia, a princess never chases a chicken." |
There are a couple of reasons that Mia's clumsy fumbling and pratfalls seemed so funny in the original. First, they often kind of crept up by surprise -- it's not much of pratfall if you see it coming. The most memorable moments daisy-chained the chaos together. Mia would accidentally trip or torch something, and that would set a hysterical series of events into motion. I think at its core, though, these sorts of moments got a laugh because Mia seemed so awkward and uncomfortable, something that's easy for most to identify with, and her embarrassment was shared with the audience. The Princess Diaries 2 flounders in each of these ways. Director Garry Marshall takes great pains to telegraph every gag in advance, offering lingering closeups and occasional explanations of everything involved. Mia's clumsiness doesn't inspire any grand comedic setups this time. When she falls or trips, that's the beginning and end of the joke. The original film mixed some fairly clever dialogue in with the physical humor, an approach that's ditched in the sequel.
In part, the comedy's less successful because the filmmakers just aren't trying, but I think there's kind of a fundamental problem with it too. Not to sound like I'm scraping up my single semester of film in college, but Mia's a static character this time around. Before, there was a journey -- she started off as a gawky, unpopular girl and emerged an elegant young woman. In The Princess Diaries 2, Mia is substantially the same person at the end of the movie as she is at the beginning. There's a female empowerment angle she might not have been able to rattle off before, and she's adorned with some new accoutrements that might be difficult to accessorize, but other than that, she really hasn't changed. Since Mia is very much a princess now and has shed most of that awkwardness, I don't think she's as easy to relate to, and the comedy takes a hit as a result. The fact that so much of the humor is uninspired and relies excessively on callbacks to the original movie doesn't help much either. There are still quite a few of Meg Cabot's novels that have yet to be adapted, but if The Princess Diaries 2 is the best Garry Marshall and company can be expected to churn out, it's probably best that the film franchise not go any further.
Video: The 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer isn't much more impressive than the movie itself. While colors and black levels are reasonably robust, the level of detail is lackluster, often leaving the pastoral backgrounds as a soft smudge. The image is further marred by the presence of edge enhancement and sporadic softness. Not unwatchable or tremendously disappointing, but thoroughly unremarkable. A separate full-frame version is also available.
Audio: The Princess Diaries 2 features Dolby Digital 5.1 audio (448Kbps), although like most movies in its genre, the surrounds and subwoofer are used sparsely. Virtually all of the activity is anchored across the front speakers, where its dialogue comes through without any problems or concerns, and the inoffensive teen-pop soundtrack sounds decent enough. There's nothing about the soundtrack, positive or negative, that compels me to say much more. The DVD also offers a six-channel French dub (384Kbps), closed captions, and subtitles in English, French, and Spanish.
 |
| Word. |
"Making a Royal Engagement" (15:37) is a better than average 'making of' featurette. Since it was produced especially for this DVD and not as some sort of pre-release EPK, it's allowed to do more than have the actors reciting the plot in between extended clips from the film. Some of the ground it covers includes building Genovia from the ground-up in Burbank, most everyone in the cast doing Garry Marshall impressions, setting up the duet between Raven and Julie Andrews, and the recording of the movie's soundtrack.
 |
| "Do I want to know?" "I don't think so." |
A bunch of Disney sneak peeks are not surprisingly tacked on as well, including plugs for a special edition of Bambi, a teaser for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Young Black Stallion, Where the Red Fern Grows, the 40th anniversary edition of Mary Poppins, and Mulan II.
The Princess Diaries 2 is packaged in a solid white keepcase, and its insert lists the disc's twelve chapter stops. The DVD also includes a set of 16x9-enhanced animated menus.
Conclusion: The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement is a dull, unnecessary sequel to a movie that really deserves better. Parents of younger fans of the original may want to give this a rental, but I wouldn't recommend it as a purchase, and viewers teenaged and older probably shouldn't bother at all. Rent It.
Related Reviews: If you're bored, feel free to read my review of the original Princess Diaries.
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