Movie Review: The King's Daughter

 

Michael's Movie Grade: C+

An enjoyable fairy tale movie. 

While the story of this film will feel quite familiar to most movie-goers, there is a reason this type of story has become so used. That is that there is a certain charm to it that still lasts despite the number of times we have seen it. This movie certainly retains much of this charm. This is very evident in our main character. She is incredibly likable from start to finish. What we see in her is what we all wish to see in ourselves. She is completely her own person, she stands for what she believes in at all times and she is full of compassion for all people. Yet this film avoids making her too perfect that she simply feels like a caricature. The king is also a very good character. What we see from him is a character who is blinded by his unlimited power. He has come to think of himself as someone who can determine what is right and wrong. He will justify anything unethical by telling himself it is the morally right thing to do. Not only this, but he believes all the lies he tells himself. This character gets us to thinking and to look inside ourselves. Have we done anything that wasn't the right thing to do because we convinced ourselves it was right? I think if most of us ask ourselves that question the answer would be yes and that makes this character immediately relatable. Also important for a fairy tale movie this film has scenes that feel magical. This is especially true of the scenes with our main character and the mermaid, which are quite well done. 

This film does have quite a few faults though. The most obvious of these is the pacing. This movie moves at a very fast speed, often simply jumping from plot point to plot point. This makes the film feel very rushed and takes away from time that could have been used to establish more atmosphere.  The romance in this movie also feels quite weak. Not only is the love interest a bland character, but there is also little chemistry between the two characters and the romance feels rushed as well. While the king is an interesting character, the man our heroine being made to marry is a very boring character. He has little personality outside of being a villain and he is neither fun nor interesting in his villainy. While it is a minor complaint, I always feel that using modern pop songs in a period film is not a good idea (the Shrek movies are the only time this has worked for me) and it took me out of the film a few times here. 

This is not a new classic for the ages, but for fans of this type of film, it makes for a fun trip to the movies.