Review by Jon Donnis
For a moment I thought we had a 2022 remake of The Princess Bride, but alas we must wait longer for that. Instead we have a classic story, a Princess (Joey King) is to be married off, and of course she is not interested.
Set in medieval times in a realm run by a King (Ed Stoppard) and Queen (Alex Reid), it becomes apparent that they have no male heir to the throne. Just two daughters. The film starts with one of those daughters chained up in a bed at the top of the tower. The King had planned for her to wed Julius (Dominic Cooper) the evil son of a diplomat, but after she left him at the altar Julius and his whip wielding henchwoman Moira (Olga Kurylenko) take the castle by force, and ultimately force the Princess to marry him, so he can have an undeniable claim to the throne.
The Princess quickly escapes her bonds, and starts to fight her way through the castle, floor by floor. She clearly knows Kung Fu which we are told she learnt as a child from Linh, the neice of one of The King's advisors. How lucky for her.
The film is a story as old as time, but without your classic "man comes to save the day", instead this is all about kick ass women, especially the Princess and Linh.
The film is quite lighthearted but also pretty violent, so not for kids. There are plenty of fun moments, and some pretty decent fight scenes. It may lack the intelligence of The Princess Bride, but does share some of the humour of the cult classic, without ever quite going as full on parody as that film.
The Good
Excellent fight scenes, a likeable Princess and an equally dislikeable Julius. Also special mention has to go out to the awesome Olga Kurylenko as henchwoman Moira. Perhaps my favourite character in the whole film.
The Bad
The plot is paper thin, and I would have liked to have seen them go full comedy as opposed to just the odd funny moment here and there.
Overall
An enjoyable film, perfect early evening watching.
Out now on Hulu
