Amazon.co.uk Review
Okay, sure, if you're a ten-year-old girl, this sequel to Disney's 2001 hit will completely transfix you. How could it not? Bubbly Mia (Anne Hathaway), the American teenager who in the first film learned she was actually European royalty, finishes college and--whoosh!--heads off to Genovia, where she’s given a closet full of fabulous clothes and jewelry in preparation to rule the kingdom under the tutelage of grandmother Julie Andrews. Throw in a horse and a volatile but innocent romantic attraction to the dreamy young stud (Chris Pine) who's also vying for the throne, and you have the kind of stuff that prepubescent girls rhapsodize about at slumber parties. Oh--and there's a slumber party here, too, featuring a bevy of cute, international young princesses mattress-surfing down a giant slide. Resistance is futile. For the rest of us, though, director Garry Marshall has managed to make his
Laverne & Shirley days seem positively Shakespearean in comparison. The movie is precious, padded (two hours!), and pandering twaddle; Andrews, in her role as Queen Mother, is even shoehorned into a faux-hip-hop duet with Disney Channel favorite Raven (one of many, many grueling moments intended to sell the soundtrack). Then the film takes a maddening left turn three-quarters of the way into the plot and decides that, despite all the preceding consumption and connubial fantasies to the contrary, it's really about feminine emancipation. But don’t worry--what causes you to smack your forehead in frustration will go right over the heads of its hypnotized target market.
--Steve Wiecking
Synopsis
As a teenager, ugly duckling Mia (Anne Hathaway) learned that she was actually a princess. Now that the Princess has completed college in America, she is returning to her country, Genovia. Since Mia is turning 21, Queen Clarisse (Julie Andrews) plans to step down and give her granddaughter the throne. But evil Viscount Mabrey (Jonathan Rhys-Davies) believes his nephew is the rightful heir, and Parliament decides that Mia will have to abide by an age-old Genovian law: no Queen shall rule without a husband. Mia has just thirty days to marry if she is to retain the throne that her family has held for over 500 years. The kindhearted but clumsy princess also has to win over the Genovian people and survive the constant paparazzi. Although a charming Englishman (Callum Blue) seems to fit the arranged marriage bill, Mia also finds herself drawn to the very man that is vying for the throne, the dashing Nicholas (Chris Pine). But can she trust her foe's intentions
![The Princess Diaries 2 - Royal Engagement [DVD] [2004]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/512W07Q0CXL._SL75_SS50_.jpg)
![The Princess Diaries/The Princess Diaries 2 - Royal Engagement [DVD] [2001]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51it3AFPQUL._SL75_SS50_.jpg)
![The Princess Diaries [DVD] [2001]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/4135DZGKBXL._SL75_SS50_.jpg)
![Ella Enchanted [DVD] [2004]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/4113EHWNNEL._SL75_SS50_.jpg)
![The Princess Diaries [DVD] [2001]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/4135DZGKBXL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
DVD ~ Julie Andrews
![Ella Enchanted [DVD] [2004]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/4113EHWNNEL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
DVD ~ Anne Hathaway
![Ice Princess [DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/514883V4XJL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
DVD ~ Michelle Trachtenberg
![A Cinderella Story [DVD] [2004]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41DNX0TNNAL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
DVD ~ Hilary Duff
![Sleepover [DVD] [2004]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5164PPFJEAL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
DVD ~ Alexa Vega
