The Princess – Film Review

When a strong-willed princess refuses to wed a cruel sociopath, she is kidnapped and locked in a remote tower. With her scorned, vindictive suitor intent on taking her father’s throne, the princess must protect her family and save the kingdom.

The Princess had absolutely everything going against it. To start with, it was directed by Le-Van Kiet, who has directed nothing but absolute garbage ever since the start of his career. Secondly, it had basically no marketing whatsoever. Seriously. This film was released today and yet it’s nearly impossible to find ads for it anywhere online. Where are all the cast interviews? The press tours? It’s confusing.

And, last but not least, it stars Joey King. Now, to clarify, King is a wonderful actress and probably one of the most charismatic of this generation. Her acting is terrific, but, it seems as if she only stars in awful movies. Yes, there are some occasionally great films from King such as The Dark Knight Rises and The Conjuring, but there are also awful misfires such as The Kissing Booth series and Slender Man.

Surprisingly though, The Princess is one of the most fun movies you’ll see all year. From the moment it begins all the way to the moment it ends, it’s an action-packed extravaganza with extraordinary set pieces, great costumes, close-quarters combat sequences, solid performances, and some occasional humor that lands quite well. Who would’ve thought that this film would be good? Probably not most people, and yet, here we are.

The film opens up with an extremely intense and brutal fight scene that lets you know exactly what kind of movie you’re about to watch. If you’re not a big fan of these kinds of fighting movies, you’re probably not going to get too much excitement out of The Princess, but for me, someone who has been salivating over a new action film for quite some time now, this hit all the cravings and left me feeling deeply satisfied.

One of the most impressive things about the fights in this movie is just how suspenseful they are. Sure, we know that King’s character won’t die early on or anything, but because they do show her getting badly hurt throughout the course of the movie, we are left to wonder just how much fight she has left in her. There is absolutely no shaky cam to be found here. It’s all one-hundred-percent legitimate filmmaking on display.

There’s also a surprising amount of character development given to the titular princess. We learn exactly why she’s doing the things she’s doing throughout the course of the film, and we understand why. Another great character who gets tons of depth here is Linh, portrayed wonderfully by Veronica Ngo. King is the standout though, for sure. She delivers easily one of the best performances of her career and shows just how incredible and, in this case, badass, she can be if given the right script.

Sometimes the film sadly gets bogged down by way too much exposition and a story that’s disappointingly familiar, but even still, The Princess is a highly entertaining action spectacle that’s certainly worth your time.