The Princess Switch: Switched Again
Romantic Comedy
2.5
Cast: Vanessa Hudgens, Sam Palladio, Nick Sagar, Suanne Braun, Ricky Norwood
Director: Mike Rohl
Story: Princess Stacy and Duchess Margaret switch places again but unbeknownst to them, Margret’s cousin, Lady Fiona has a few tricks up her sleeve as well.
Review: The release of Netflix Christmas movies has become a yearly tradition, and it seems, so has the presence of the affable Vanessa Hudgens in these films. The Princess Switch: Switched Again is a harebrained and frankly rather unnecessary sequel to what could best be described as a superficial ‘The Prince and the Pauper’-esque first installment. Before we dive into Netflix’s latest way to spread Christmas cheer, we are presented with a helpful recap of the first film in the franchise that plays out exactly as if we were reading a greeting card. Princess Stacy (played by Hudgens) thinks that Queen-to-be, Duchess Margaret (also played by Hudgens) is royally overwhelmed with sadness and responsibilities. The only possible solution she, someone versed in royal affairs herself can seem to have is for Margaret to be reunited with her past love, Kevin.
Hallmark holiday movies are known to be frivolous and nonsensical but their undeniable charm is what, arguably makes them worth our time. The Princess Switch: Switched Again fails to deliver in this one very key aspect. The film starts off by being quite dull. All the characters are busy playing Cupid and it is a little exasperating to watch. The film picks up pace with the arrival of Margaret’s look-alike cousin, Fiona, played by, (you guessed it right) Vanessa Hudgens! While the change in pace works in the favour of the film, the plot that follows definitely does not. The introduction of a number of bizarre characters, each with their own “evil” motives unnecessarily complicates the already headache-inducing plot. None of the characters are fleshed out enough to have any real impact to the story and some of them are forgotten midway into the film only to make a sudden reappearance towards the end.
Unlike the first film, the characters switch places at two different instances this time around. The second switch happens so late into the film that there is not enough time to build up the drama needed to establish the new development and hence fails to be even mildly entertaining. I began to wonder why this film is categorized as a romantic comedy given the fact that there is a clear absence of both romance and comedy for the majority of its run time.
The only person who seems to be having fun here is Vanessa Hudgens. She seamlessly switches between different roles and accents and even manages to not make a mockery of herself while playing the over the top Princess Fiona (a difficult task to accomplish). The other actors have much less to do but both Sam Palladio and Nick Sagar, who play Prince Edward and Kevin respectively are likeable.
The Princess Switch: Switched Again should never have been made in the first place and the film, much like most of the plot points in it, is easily avoidable. Give this one a miss, our lives are too complicated as it is!
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