Right to Burp: "The Princess" Movie Review
A bloody action movie with laudable intentions and a failed realization.
A coup takes place in a fictional kingdom: a brutal tyrant seizes power and is rejected for marriage by a local princess (Joey King). The girl has long been developing fighting skills and decides to save the country's fate, while also proving to the king-father what she is capable of.
In one episode of "The Princess," the unnamed protagonist snatches a mug from the guards after another fight, takes a sip, and burps with well-deserved bliss a little later. "This is what I needed," she declares, after which she proceeds to kill. Films with feminist re-evaluations of traditionally masculine genres still seem desperately needed by humanity, too, until the "why" questions, along with the sobbing about the "lust" and the culture of abolishing real men, are over. But what do you do when your entire project gives away the efforts of a novice developer who built a video game on his knees and proudly displayed it for all to see? You get "Princess," so "necessary" that it instantly goes out of your head.
The director of the film, Vietnamese Lee-Van Kiet became famous for "Fury," the highest-grossing film of all time in Vietnam. The lead actress Veronica Ngo, who plays the role of the heroine's mentor, also took over from the film to "Princess". The martial arts serve as a vital addition to "The Princess," sometimes even a successful one - because as soon as their jurisdiction ends, a rambling mix of tiresome flashbacks, attempts at humor and recognizable plot bumps kicks in. So important to the writers is the emancipation of the central contestant that the audience doesn't even recognize her name until the closing credits to a syrupy cover of Billy Idol's White Wedding track, "Hey, little sister, where's your Superman?" Sis hasn't needed anyone for a long time, Uncle, open your eyes, it's 2022, girl power and total impersonality are in vogue.
In principle, all the mercenary enthusiasm comes to naught at the stage of preparation for release and 20th Century Studios' decision to release the film immediately on streaming, because you won't have to wait for a big box office anyway. So why waste effort and promo on a craft that almost no one from the audience, including the creators themselves (unbelievably, but also men, including the writers), will remember. However, catching a glimpse in "Princess" is the same Joey King, a representative of the new Hollywood, star of the popular series "Pretend" and the teen trilogy "Kissing Box." With a skillful script and not one-of-a-kind characters, King is worthy to lead more than one action franchise in the future. The actress demonstrates a deft command of martial arts and manages to insert a couple of forced gags that still look quite appropriate.
In the background come Dominic Cooper from Preacher (that insidious sociopath) and Olga Kurylenko as his assistant/lover. The latter has stepped from the Tuskmaster in Marvel to another mainstream quagmire from which there is not at all a way out. Otherwise, aside from the unsightly sets and effects costumes, "Princess" rather than debunking the trope of the conventional "damsel in distress," adds problematic layers to it. In realizing her dream of becoming heiress to the throne, the nameless royal saved her family, her country, and herself, becoming another Lara Croft of the first cartoonish cast with unsightly graphics and unintelligible ambitions (the obligatory stereotypical Asian teacher as a gift). Corporations, of course, can come up with and invest in a better plot, only it's not profitable at all. That leaves the one-shot and low-budget vignettes, where one should say thank you if one wishes for an R rating and a little more blood than usual. Otherwise, we should not wait for the addition to Disney's fairy tale canon of "The Princess", it is for the best.
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