In medieval action-adventure movie, The Princess, a young princess wakes up to discover she has been locked up in a tall tower, and chained to a bed. Her father’s kingdom has been overtaken, its people have been held captive, and she has been made a prisoner in her own castle.
After dislocating her thumb in order to remove her shackles, the princess kills her guards and flees her room. She then moves through the castle, using her resourcefulness to tackle all obstacles that come her way.
Her goal is to free her family and liberate the kingdom. But to do this, she will need to defeat a number of enemies, including chief bad guy, Julius – a would-be suitor she previously spurned.
Directed by Le-Van Kiet, The Princess stars Joey King, Dominic Cooper, and Veronica Ngo. The movie is brand-new to Hulu in the US from today, or can be viewed in most other territories, including the UK, via Disney+.
The Princess is a dark fantasy film, filled with plenty of black comedy and an almost endless array of action. The film is perhaps best described as Die Hard (1988) meets Red Sonja (1985) via The Raid (2011), and if you love watching movies which place the focus on strong female leads, whose actions speak louder than words, then you will find much to enjoy in The Princess.
I found this picture to be a heap of fun. The Princess zips along at a good pace, knows when to play up the laughs, or when to throw out some punches, and includes a strong central performance from Joey King in the titular role.
King is an absolute delight to watch and proves to be the beating heart of this film. Although she is given relatively little dialogue, King commands every scene she is in and makes this part her own.
Her princess becomes an instant action icon, to stand alongside the likes of Xena, Mulan, and She-Ra. She is brave, bold, and beautiful, and perhaps most important of all, she’s a total bad-ass.
After watching this movie, I now want a princess action figure, a princess outfit, and I want everyone on the street to start calling me ‘Princess’. I don’t care that I’m not as tough as she is, nor do I look as good as Joey King in a skirt and corset, I simply want to be her and have her battle skills.
But then, I also want to be various other female characters from this movie too. The Princess boasts a number of strong female leads, who are all effortlessly cool whether they fight the good fight or not, and this is something which really shines bright in this film.
With this movie, director Le-Van Kiet and writers Ben Lustig and Jake Thornton have brought together a good collection of powerful characters who all stand out from the crowd. I can see The Princess being very popular with audiences who adore strong female action stars, or those who simply love to see good ol’ fashioned fisticuffs.
I knew next-to-nothing about The Princess going into the film, but came out of it very happy. This is a ballsy, confident, spritely little picture and one with no major issues.
Sure, there’s very little story going on here, as the emphasis is very much on the set-pieces, but this isn’t a problem at all. The Princess is a ruddy good romp of a movie, with some well-orchestrated sequences, a good bit of casting, and a thumpingly good understanding of what it wants to achieve.
I never tired of seeing Joey King punching out bad guys, and I doubt you will too. If you want approximately 95-minutes of action and adventure this weekend, get The Princess on your tele-box, sit back, and enjoy!
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