The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

The Princess Diaries 2:
Royal Engagement

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Garry Marshall
Produced by
Screenplay by Shonda Rhimes
Story by
  • Shonda Rhimes
  • Gina Wendkos
Based on Characters
by Meg Cabot
Starring
Music by John Debney
Cinematography Charles Minsky
Edited by Bruce Green
Production
companies
Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures
Release dates
  • August 11, 2004 (2004-08-11)
Running time
 113 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $40 million
Box office $134.7 million[2]

The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement is a 2004 American romantic comedy film and the sequel to 2001's The Princess Diaries. Unlike the first film, this film is not based on any of the books.

Most of the cast returned from the first film, including Julie Andrews, Anne Hathaway, Héctor Elizondo, Heather Matarazzo, and Larry Miller. Garry Marshall returned to direct and Debra Martin Chase to produce. New characters include Viscount Mabrey (John Rhys-Davies), Lord Nicholas Devereaux (Chris Pine), and Andrew Jacoby (Callum Blue).

Despite generally negative reviews from critics, the film had a worldwide box office of $122 million.[3]

Plot

Five years after the first film, Crown Princess of Genovia Amelia "Mia" Thermopolis (Anne Hathaway) has just graduated from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School and is returning to Genovia with her bodyguard Joe (Héctor Elizondo). There, she will await her reign once her grandmother, Queen Clarisse (Julie Andrews), steps down as Queen. During Mia's 21st birthday party, she dances with all the eligible bachelors in hope of finding a husband. She becomes attracted to a handsome gentleman named Nicholas (Chris Pine). During the course of the night, Mia's tiara falls off and is caught by a Member of Parliament, Viscount Mabrey (John Rhys-Davies) who secretly plans to steal Mia's crown. While the Parliament is in-session the next morning, Mia stumbles upon a hidden room that allows her to secretly listen in. Viscount Mabrey reveals his nephew, Lord Devereaux, is another heir to the Genovian throne. Despite Queen Clarisse's objection, the only way Mia can assume her duties as Queen is if she marries within the month. Clarisse invites Lord Devereaux to stay at the palace, while Mia is shocked to discover Lord Devereaux is Nicholas. Mia's best friend Lilly Moscovitz (Heather Matarazzo) surprises her by visiting. Together, they pick through potential husbands. Mia eventually chooses Andrew Jacoby (Callum Blue), Duke of Kenilworth and days later they are engaged. Mabrey plans to have Nicholas woo Mia and dissolve the engagement.

For a ceremony, Mia is to ride sidesaddle but does not know how. Queen Clarisse provides an ancestral wooden leg decoy to make it look like she's riding sidesaddle. Mabrey spooks Mia's horse with a rubber snake and Joe rushes to Mia's aide, but accidentally tears off the wooden leg. Humiliated, Mia flees to the stables, where Nicholas fails to comfort her. At a garden party, Mia and Nicholas quarrel about Mia's relationship with Andrew; Nicholas tricks Mia into admitting she doesn't love him. Angered, she argues but instead gets bombarded by a kiss. At first, she kisses him back but then backs away. Nicholas pursues her even more, which causes both of them to fall into a fountain. Queen Clarisse finally tells Mia that her behavior with Nicholas needs to stop.

During the Genovian Independence Day parade, Mia sees some boys picking on a little girl (Abigail Breslin), and abruptly halts the parade to comfort the girl. Learning the children are orphans, Mia has a vendor give them all tiaras and lets them walk with her in the parade. Everyone is impressed by her act of generosity, while Mabrey sees it as a political maneuver. Mia later decides to convert one of the royal palaces into a temporary children's center. That night, Mia has her bachelorette/sleepover party, where Queen Clarisse surfs on a mattress and sings a duet with Princess Asana (Raven-Symoné), one of Mia's good friends. In the meantime, Mabrey realizes Nicholas has fallen for Mia, but Nicholas says that Mia will never love him. Nicholas comes upon Mia as she is practicing her archery as part of her coronation rites. He helps her succeed in getting the arrow to hit the bullseye, something she had been struggling with. Nicholas then informs Mia that he is leaving, but asks to see her just one more time before he goes. She declines, saying she is under close guard.

That night, Nicholas appears outside Mia's window and asks her to come out. Lilly encourages her to go, and Mia sneaks out. They ride out to a lake where they share secrets, dance and eventually fall asleep. They awaken to find a man in a boat videotaping them. Mia thinks Nicholas set her up, while he insists he had no idea. By the time Mia gets back to the palace, the scandalous footage is already being broadcast. Andrew is disappointed and kisses Mia to see if there is a romantic spark between them. They realize they do not love each other, but do not call off the wedding for the good of Genovia. The wedding is to take place the following day, and Mia's mother Helen (Caroline Goodall) comes with her new husband Patrick (Sean O'Bryan) and their newborn son Trevor. Nicholas decides against attending, but his surly housekeeper Gretchen informs him that Mabrey engineered their televised scandal.

Right before the wedding, Joe informs Mia that Nicholas is innocent. Queen Clarisse encourages Mia to follow her heart, something she has never done and has now cost her Joe, the only man she truly loved. Mia reenters the church, and asks the members of the Parliament to consider the women in their families and questions if they would force them what they're forcing her to do (marrying people they don't love). Mabrey cites the law again, suggesting that Nicholas be named King, only for Nicholas to arrive and refuse the crown as well as disown his uncle. Mia proposes the law on royal marriages be abolished, and the Parliament unanimously gives its assent. Encouraged by Mia to have her own happy ending, Clarisse proposes to Joe and they are promptly married.

About a week later, Mia is preparing for her coronation when Nicholas shows up. He professes his love for Mia on bended knees, and they share a romantic kiss. The next day, Mia is crowned "Her Majesty Amelia Mignonette Thermopolis Renaldi, Queen of Genovia", with all in attendance in the royal palace.

An epilogue shows that Genovian Parliament now allows female members, one of whom is Charlotte. And Queen Mia officially opens the children's home.

Cast

Reception

The film opened in 3,472 theaters in North America and grossed $22,956,453 in its opening weekend. It grossed $134,734,481 worldwide—$95,170,481 in North America and $39,564,000 in other territories.[4]

Critical response

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that the film had a 25% "certified rotten" rating, with an average score of 4.6/10 based on 115 critical reviews. The site's general consensus is that "Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews bring charm and elegance to the movie, but there's not enough material for them to work with in this sequel."[5] On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 reviews from film critics, it has an average score of 43 from the 31 reviews, which indicates "Mixed or average reviews".[6]

The film's writer, Shonda Rhimes, later said that she treasured the experience if for nothing else – the opportunity to work with its star, Julie Andrews.[7]

Soundtrack

The song, "Your Crowning Glory", a duet between Queen Clarisse (Julie Andrews) and Princess Asana (Raven-Symoné) was the first time Andrews had sung in public or on screen since she had throat surgery in 1997.

Sequel

In March 2016, Garry Marshall announced that Hathaway—pregnant with her first child—would appear in a third Princess Diaries film after she gave birth.[8]

References

External links

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