IR Film Review: THE PRINCESS [20th Century Studios/Hulu]
Making an action film that is accessible both to young women and cool enough to appeal to the young male demographic is few and far between. "The Princess" does it admirably while still sticking to its mid-range budget guns and almost despite a high body count keeping it relatively bloodless and yet dark enough in some points where it doesn't feel like it is pandering. This is due in large part to the lead Joey King (mostly know for her more kid-friendly Ramona roles). This is a big step up for her and despite the fact that she likely had many stunt doubles, she keeps in frame for as much as she can. The story has a Rapunzel set up to it but then it has a reverse "The Raid" creation to it. She needs to get out and yet she has to protect within. As this is set in the Middle Ages, she is promised as a first daughter to a marriage with an obvious bad guy to bring kingdoms together.
Dominic Cooper, who has played pretty dark characters before, plays the conquering ruler who will do whatever he needs to take power. It is a vicious circle but it makes King's voyage all the better. She has her secret trainer played by Quantum Of Solace's Olga Kurylenko while Cooper also has a consort that is built to make sure the Princess does what she is told. In this way, the story has failsafes in many ways to any expected judgment and allows most of the story and action to run unabated. The soldiers are basically grungy, soulless gluttons that try to take The Princess down. The sequences on the stairs and the structure of the tower adds to the swashbuckling element of it but is also close quarters enough to be riveting at times.
King's character gets hurt but not too hurt, bloody but not too bloody. Because of this balance, "The Princess" is alot of fun and yet has stakes. It is too violent for Disney+ of course and the mid range of it makes it not quite theatrical (though it would have worked on the big screen). In that reasoning, it is premiering on Hulu, where it will get some good viewings but the reality is that because of the lack of marketing behind it, likely not many people will know it is really even coming out. In that way, a good, fun, efficient, popcorn piece of filmmaking like this with effective messaging which also has much more practical effects than others gets lost in the mix with some good action and a very strong and likable lead character. B+
By Tim Wassberg
