Apparently it’s an abominable sin that I’ve never seen this before. And I don’t care if you forgive me or not for that, quite frankly.
The Princess Diaries is a movie adaptation of the Meg Cabot book series of the same name. Set in modern day San Francisco, we find ourselves immersed in the life of Mia (Anne Hathaway); an average, yet somewhat dishevelled teenager who lives with her mother in a renovated firehouse. Shit gets real when it is revealed to Mia that she’s actually heir to the throne of Genovia – an imaginary country that her deceased father was due to become head of before his passing. Her grandmother Clarisse (Dame Julie Andrews) visits out of the blue around the time of Mia’s sixteenth birthday, explaining to her exactly what her birth right is and how she’s come to prepare her for such an assignment.
Firstly, we simply must comment on the iconic cast at hand here. Dame Julie Andrews is the most resplendent, poised, glowing human being in the world, for one. The fact that she even accepted this role proves she also has the utmost banter and is therefore true Queen of the World.
Aside from Dame J, Anne Hathaway plays the lead role perfectly too. I personally wish she’d do a few more light-hearted movies like this (that aren’t C list comedies starring Rebel Wilson), because she fares really well here. Sure, she’s an Oscar-winning ‘serious’ actress these days, but that shouldn’t matter. This movie alone is proof that Hathaway has the range to do it all. More minorly, it’s nice to know that Mandy Moore has massively grown as an actress since 2001 too. (Love you, Rebecca Pearson.)
Filled with humour and royal teen angst, this is a really fun narrative. It seems as though the scriptwriter (Gina Wendkos of Coyote Ugly fame) really succeeded in adapting this movie from the book – it remains a fully realised story and anything that was omitted isn’t noticeable. Of course, it wouldn’t be a teen movie without a romantic subplot, and there’s plenty of that here. Usually that would be a major gripe of mine, but on this occasion, it not only works, but is also relatively not annoying.
Despite that, there are some sequences within this that really aren’t all that necessary (the dart-throwing, paint balloon therapy thing?) but it’s all in good, light-hearted fun so who cares, really? There are several motifs that are a little bit fodder-y and overstretched when you really think about it, but once that’s all out of the way then you’re sure to have a good time.
What I’m saying is, whilst this is enjoyable, I’m not going out of my way to watch it again. Or to watch the sequel for that matter. It is what it is though, and it’s an enjoyable movie nonetheless.
The Princess Diaries is available to stream on Disney+ in the UK.
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