Streaming
Service: Netflix
Movie
Name/Year: A
Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby (2019)
Genre: Romance
Length: 82 minutes
Rating: TV-PG
Production/Distribution: Netflix
Director: John Schultz
Writer: Karen Schaler, Nate Atkins
Actors: Rose McIver, Ben Lamb,
Alice Krige, Honor Kneafsey, Kevin Shen, Momo Yeung, Sarah Douglas, Theo
Devaney, Richard Ashton, Raj Bajaj, Crystal Yu, Andy Lucas, Tahirah Sharif,
John Guerrasio, Joel McVeagh, Madra Ihegborow, Billy Angel, Cristian Calara,
Ioana Ilie, Nicolae Stoica, Shinji Ishigaki
Blurb
from IMDb: It's
Christmastime in Aldovia, and a royal baby is on the way. Amber and Richard
host royals from a distant kingdom to renew a sacred truce, but when the treaty
vanishes, peace is jeopardized and an ancient curse threatens their family.
Selina’s
Point of View:
As a
series, A Christmas Prince (2017-) is pretty much what one would expect
from a Hallmark-style Christmas film. It’s corny and full of romantic tropes,
but it leaves you with a good feeling and makes for decent background ambiance
while the family is over.
I
think it’s important to remember that, for the most part, Christmas rom-coms
are meant to be good-natured stories that remind you of the magic of the
holidays without making you think too hard. They’re meant to be on screen while
you’re baking cookies, decorating the house, wrapping presents, or hanging out
with loved ones. Most of them are just not going to be super deep. They’re just
simple stories with either a light meaningful message or a happy ending or
both.
In
all those things, the Christmas Prince Netflix series succeeds. I gave
the first two films a mediocre score. It would never be something I sought out,
but not something I’d rush to turn off either.
With
that said, this one took a strange left turn.
Let’s
recap.
A
Christmas Prince (2017)
featured a journalist that got mistaken for a royal tutor and wound up falling
in love with a prince known for shirking his duties. She changed him and he fell
head over heels for her. It’s a fine story, but no one would ever accuse it of
originality.
The
second film, A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding (2018), just
continued the story. The journalist accepted her prince’s hand in marriage and had
to find a balance between what she wanted and what being a royal meant. We’ve
seen it before. We’ve seen it done better.
Now,
on to the third film.
It
didn’t actually focus on the love between the main characters as much as I
thought it would. There was no big conflict between them to resolve. They were
strong throughout – which turned the focus to a different plot. It was about a
stolen treaty that had to be found by midnight of Christmas Eve or war would
break out between Aldovia and a neighboring kingdom and the baby of the two
main characters would be cursed.
In
one film, the series went from being all light-heart and romance to having
threads of politics and the supernatural. It came out of nowhere, and there
were aspects of it that I really couldn’t predict.
Granted,
there was plenty of the corn and fluff one would expect from the series, but
there was a much more interesting story under it all and that made it more fun
to watch. I actually enjoyed A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby more
than I thought I would. It wasn’t just watchable; it was something I’d consider
actively seeking out.
No,
it wasn’t a masterpiece. It was, however, fun and campy and interesting. It
left me kind of hoping for a fourth.
Cat’s
Point of View:
I was excited to
see that there would be another movie to round out the Christmas Prince
trilogy. The two prior movies were adorable and engaging – this new offering
was no different.
Rose McIver (Once
Upon A Time, Dragons: Race to the Edge, Brampton's Own) remained a natural
and seemingly effortless fit as Queen Amber. I can’t find fault with any of the
cast, really.
I quite enjoyed
the elements of mystery and political intrigue that were woven into this film.
While the theme didn’t delve quite to the Agatha Christie (Murder on the
Orient Express, Marple, Poirot) level, it did offer some relief from the
more ordinary tale of ‘Cinderella has a baby.’
While I don’t
necessarily see myself watching this trilogy every year during the Holiday
Season, I can certainly guarantee that I will revisit these films in the future
to enjoy the familiar warmth like a soothing cup of hot chocolate.
Anyone who
enjoyed the first two movies will likely feel similarly about The Royal Baby.
Rotten
Tomatoes Critic Score – None
Rotten
Tomatoes Audience Score – 40%
Metascore – None
Metacritic
User Score – None
IMDB
Score – 5.3/10
CinemaScore – None
Trust
the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 3.5/5
Trust
the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 4/5
Movie
Trailer:
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