“iZombie’s” Rose McIver is doing pretty well, at least commercially, on her offseason hiatuses, starring in 2017’s “A Christmas Prince” and this year’s “A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding.” In these Netflix hits, she plays Amber Moore (a long-lost twin sister of Liv?), an American journalist who falls for the prince of Aldovia while on assignment covering the royal succession.
Easy to predict
To label the first film stridently paint-by-numbers would be an insult to the creative freedom of a paint-by-numbers kit. Even with the charming McIver, “A Christmas Prince” is hard to watch because it takes no effort to predict what will happen.
For example, as soon as Amber goes undercover as the tutor of Princess Emily (Honor Kneafsey), the kid sister of Prince Richard (Ben Lamb), we know there will be a scene later where the prince finds out and Amber has to try to win his trust back. When the least predictable aspect of the film is the deus ex machina (the precise details, if not its function) that will allow Richard to legally take the throne, your movie is not creative.
“A Christmas Prince” (2017) and “A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding” (2018)
Directors: Alex Zamm, John Schultz
Writers: Karen Schaler, Nate Atkins
Stars: Rose McIver, Ben Lamb, Alice Krige
Although the romance genre often pairs with comedy, “A Christmas Prince” rarely goes for laughs. To be fair, it isn’t labeled a comedy, but it could’ve used some. Similar to how “Airplane!” added absurdist humor to the plot and characters of “Zero Hour!,” someone could make a great farcical gag-fest using the template of “A Christmas Prince.”
For example, when a gussied-up Amber appears atop the ballroom staircase to murmurs of “She’s so beautiful,” if that were to be followed by Amber tripping and falling down the stairs, it would make the film vastly better.
No understanding of media
One could nitpick details. Amber’s job as a copy editor for an entertainment website isn’t accurate. It presents copy editor as a low-level job, subservient to the superstar reporter/writers, but in reality, the positions aren’t tiered like that; they are complementary.
A media outlet could have veteran copy editors and rookie reporters, and usually has a mix of experienced and inexperienced people in both jobs (if it employs copy editors, that is). And no outfit like Beat Now (or Now Beat?) can afford to send someone to Aldovia (a fictional kingdom we can imagine is carved out of Great Britain) for extended time.
But the biggest flaw of the screenplay by Karen Schaler and Nathan Atkins is how safely obvious it is. Like all films of this type, it trades on the newcomer to regal life helping to remove the sticks from the behinds of the royals, but the screenplay itself remains stiff throughout. Your mind can wander for 20 minutes, and – if you’ve watched any other movie, ever – you’ll immediately fill in the gap when you re-engage.
Sequel has more fun
“A Royal Wedding,” by the same writers and directed by John Schultz (taking over from Alex Zamm), is much better simply because it has a sense of fun, Christmas spirit and laughter. It’s not exactly filled with surprises; for instance, as soon as we learn about incongruities with the treasury of Aldovia, it’s clear who the culprit is.
With the fairy tale of a peasant being swept away by her prince behind us, the sequel again baits women who eat up genre conventions with the story of Amber planning her wedding. There are clichés here, such as Amber needing to stand up for herself and not allow the planners to corrupt her vision, but the script doesn’t come from a stock template this time.
The sequel could legitimately be called a comedy. Amber’s dad, the New Yorker Rudy (John Guerrasio, taking over for Daniel Fathers), has fun playing the uncouth guy who sweeps into the castle and eventually wins his in-laws over. (Amber is also from the Big Apple, of course, but the New Zealander McIver uses her Hollywood accent from “iZombie.”)
With Amber’s besties Melissa (Tahirah Sharif) and Andy (Joel McVeagh) also livening things up, the sticks are successfully extracted in “A Royal Wedding.”
But it’s still dumb
Granted, it’s still stupid, especially from a journalism standpoint. Amber solves the corruption, and it’s a good thing, because Aldovia apparently does not have any investigative reporters nor an internal affairs branch of the government.
Actually, the corruption is so simple that Emily even helps solve it, so a pavement-pounding watchdog reporter probably wouldn’t be needed. Come to think of it, the corruption is so simple I wonder if it’s a frame-job … but, no, it’s not that kind of movie.
“The Royal Wedding” is no masterpiece, but while the original left me numb with boredom, the sequel had me smiling now and then.
“A Christmas Prince” (2017): 1.5 stars
“A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding” (2018): 2.5 stars