Kids’ eye view:

Princess Diaries 2 is an incredibly fun movie. Princess Mia (Hathaway) is a college graduate and on her way to becoming Queen of Genovia. She finds a secret passageway with an opening where she listens in on the Genovian Parliament. A scheming minister, who wants his nephew to rule Genovia, brings up the fact that there is a law that says that before a princess can become queen she has to get married. So now Mia has to fall in love, get engaged, and get married in 30 days or else she cannot become queen! Sound like fun? I don’t think so!

The music in Princess Diaries 2 is awesome, with a wide variety of singers. I can’t wait to get the soundtrack!

This movie is a romantic adventure with a strong female character who proves that she is very capable of ruling on her own.

Parent Perspective:

As a parent of a girl, I have always been wary of the message in the standard happily-ever-after fairytale—the prince comes along to make everything all right. Princess Diaries 2 is a great 21st-century fairytale, relying not on being saved by a Prince Charming so much as recognizing that the charming Princess can tackle her own dilemmas.

This is a fun movie with some very silly comedy mixed with beautiful costumes and scenery, good music, and a nice story. The writers don’t leave us hanging about what happens to the folks from the first movie, and they bring in new characters who really spice up this movie. John Rhys-Davies (Viscount Mabrey) does a fine job of being the evil baddie, Callum Blue (Andrew Jacoby) plays the part of the honorable gentleman well, while Chris Pine (Nicholas Devereaux) is the handsome rogue. To see such a beautiful young lady like Hathaway pull off the physical comedy splattered throughout the movie is refreshing. Some of the humor is a bit over-the-top, and bits of the movie seem to take some pretty big leaps, but overall the story is good, and hearing Julie Andrews (Queen Clarisse) sing in a movie again is a treat. I will definitely recommend this one to anyone who likes a fairytale or comedy, or has always dreamed of having her own mall in her bedroom.

—Samantha, Caleb, Karen