The Princess (2022)

Currently I m playing a stealth video game (with rats, lot of rats) the second time which is against a backdrop of Middle Age France. So when I watched this movie I could find a lot of similarities between them. A princess hunted by soldiers within a castle. But this time it a bit different. It's kinda too-down in a tower.

Since I found this movie by surprise, I really had zero expectation for it. But then, I was totally caught by surprise. It's totally entertaining. Then another surprise: I found some familiar faces, namely Veronica Ngo and Olga Kurylenko. Mm, how I miss them both.

I would say it's definitely a good choice for a night of chilling martial action. Wow, girls can be badass if they got hot blood.

Fmovies: In a medieval Kingdom, the Princess (Joey King) rejects marriage to Lord Julius (Dominic Cooper) Soon after the rejection, Julius leads a coup against the kingdom taking the Princess' family hostage and intending to force marriage. When the Princess awakens locked in a tower, she utilizes the combat training she's learned all her life from her mentor Linh (Veronica Ngo) to fight her way through the castle and rescue her family and stop Julius.

The Princess is the second English language feature by Vietnamese director Le-Van Kiet following the shark attack film The Requin from earlier this year. Produced by Neal H. Moritz' Original Film and Derek Kolstad who created the John Wick franchise, Ben Lustig and Jake Thornton's spec script was acquired by 20th Century Studios as an original for Hulu. The movie is certainly well within Kolstad's wheelhouse taking a similar streamlined approach like John Wick or Nobody, Le-Van Kiet is much more at home here than with The Requin, and Joey King, Dominic Cooper, and Veronic Ngo are a lot of fun in the action spun take off on fairy tales.

The Princess is about as simple a premise as you can get with an evil villain keeping a princess locked in a tower, but despite the time worn setup it isn't long before this Disney-esque setting turns into the same hard knuckle claustrophobic ride you got from The Raid or Dredd as the castle is utilized for all manner of swordfights, fistfights, and chases that per the standards of other John Wick inspired projects let the action breathe and flow with well-timed choreography and long uninterrupted shots so we get the full impact. Joey King is really good in the role as The Princess and embodies the typical "princess in a gilded cage" archetype whilst also combining it with subversive humor and genuinely impressive stunt work that King spent a lot of time and preparation on which comes across well in the final product. Dominic Cooper is also quite fun and hateful as Lord Julius and the movie does a solid job of making him hateful scum we can't wait to see taken down a peg. But stealing every scene she's in is unquestionably Veronica Ngo as the Princess' friend/mentor Linh who trained her from childhood in martial arts and swordplay and the flashback scenes between them spaced throughout the film do a solid job of adding credibility to the scenario as well as making us care about their relationship. The Princess isn't a flawless movie as there are moments such as a running gag with an obese mercenary running about the castle being more of a limping gag that isn't as funny as the movie seems to think it is, and it's undeniable we've seen takes on the "badly behaving princess" that range from the throwaway joke in Shrek the Third to more front and center approaches such as Your Highness or Matt Groening's Disenchanted, but I still felt The Princess utilized that subversive premise far better than those examples and was consistently entertained throughout its efficiently paced 90 minute runtime.

The Princess takes classic fairy tale tropes and places them in an action movie framework similar to The Raid or Dredd and gives us a stylish and violently entertaining good time. Le-Van Kiet gives a solid skillset showcase and the performances of Joey King, Dominic Cooper, and Veronica Ngo are effortlessly entertaining. I hope to see more work in action from Le-Van Kiet in the future if this is the standard set.

It's a Disney Girl-Power medieval fantasy film but with lots of fighting, blood splatter and some minor gore. That's why it's on Hulu instead of DisneyPlus. The film is about a guy with ambitions to forcibly take over the kingdom by marrying the princess. But the princess doesn't want to marry the guy and fights back the patriarchy. Lots of sassy one liners from princess, male goons with little intellect that have their arse handed to them by the tiny princess, lots of preachy dialogue and not much of a story. Did I also mention that Mulan and her relatives make a guest appearance in the film? Some of the fighting sequences remind me of Guy Richie directed films.

P. S. The wardrobe people seem to be confused about whether this film is supposed to be a medieval fantasy or a Viking fantasy film because some of the helmets used are blend of medieval and Viking horns.

The Princess fmovies. This was nothing but the same fight scene over and over with an attempt to make the deaths progressively more grotesque. Bad acting and unimaginative writing.

The Princess (Joey King) is imprisoned in the tower to be wed to usurper Julius (Dominic Cooper). The Princess is independent-minded and has been training to fight in secret despite her father's disapproval. She escapes from her bondage and battles her kidnappers.

This is more or less a fighting film reel for Joey King. She gets to do a lot of stage fighting. She's a good lead actress. Otherwise, there isn't much to this movie. I bet you the script is no more than twenty pages and most of it is The Princess fights. Even the production design is limited. I don't know anything about these writers or director. The fight choreographer will probably get some more work after this.

For me going into this movie I didn't have high expectations. Because I am a King fan I had to see this movie. She is just so beautiful to watch as an actress. That being said this was not the best movie she has been in. But for what it was (a Kill Bill style medieval times movie) it was not bad. It was just not great, a bit too serious, I think if they had thrown in a comedian it would have been a hit. So lots of blood but not too much that you could not enjoy this movie with the kids close by. The foul language also didn't match with the time frame there were aiming for. So when they said or did certain things a person would do or say today in this movie it was just not believable. A perfect example was in the beginning with the dislocation of her thumb, unbelievable. Now, if you were going into this movie expecting fantasy/adventure like I did, you will be let down. But IF you are a King fan then this movie was just ok. I personally will not see it again but I would recommend to another King fan IF they had nothing better to watch that is. Here's hoping her next movie will be a hit. Oh and I loved the villainess, she played her part well.