Directed by Le-Van Kiet and written by Ben Lustig and Jake Thornton, “The Princess” tells the story of the titular character, played by Joey King, who has been held captive in her own castle. She finds out that earlier last night, Julius (Dominic Cooper) and Moira (Olga Kurylenko) conducted a coup and took over the King’s (Ed Stoppard) castle and are holding them hostage. Unlike most medieval “Disney princess movies” (20th Century Studios is currently owned by Disney, so, it’s a Disney princess movie), the Princess doesn’t wait to be saved by some knight in shining armor. Instead, she kicks, punches, hacks, slashes, and body slams her way to her family in the most entertaining and brutal ways possible.
Spoilers Ahead
Who Is Julius? What Is His Endgame?
The first 9 minutes of “The Princess” are just Joey King butchering the hell out of any man who comes in her way. But then we get a glimpse of what’s actually going on. The King, the Queen (Alex Reid), their younger daughter Violet (Katelyn Rose Downey), and everyone in the citadel have been captured by Julius and his army. He isn’t some random enemy. He knows the King, and the King knows him, as we see him tell Julius that what he’s doing is wrong, and he should’ve taken notes from his father, who was a diplomat. As he berates them, Violet reveals his reason for the attack: Julius wants to marry the Princess and become the new King. Also, Julius is a misogynist and a racist, as he thinks that the King has upended the natural order of things by abiding by his daughters’ “bad behavior” and welcoming “outsiders.”
In a flashback sequence, we see Julius convincing the King that since he doesn’t have a son, he doesn’t have an heir to the throne. So, he should marry her elder daughter to him and continue the lineage. There was a marriage ceremony, where Julius thanked the King for giving him the responsibility of becoming the true leader of the kingdom. But when he approached the Princess and put a ring on her finger, she rejected him and walked out of the marriage ceremony. As per Linh (Veronica Ngo), Julius attacked the castle at night, knowing full well that the soldiers wouldn’t be prepared, and mercilessly killed everyone and then locked the Princess, with the plan to keep her there until the marriage ceremony. And when he realizes that the Princess is not going to agree to the marriage, he announces that he is going to marry Violet instead, as she won’t put up too much of a fight.
How Did The Princess Break Stereotype And Choose To Be A Fighter?
I think this is the first question that is going to cross anyone’s mind after seeing the Princess’s whole family being helpless while she is butchering goons left, right, and center. The answer lies in a flashback sequence, which is triggered when the Princess gets access to her sword hidden in her bedroom. We see her training with Linh in a secluded area of the forest, who is teaching her to fight from her heart. They are joined by Khai (Kristofer Kamiyasu), who is one of the King’s advisers, and Linh’s uncle, who trained her to become the warrior she is right now. And Linh tells the Princess that she needs to fight them both in order to prove that her training has had some effect on her. When she manages to incapacitate the two, she gets her dragon-hilted sword.
Soon after, she hears her father and her mother talking about marrying her to Julius, since he’s a respected lord who can restore the kingdom’s standing. Her mother opposes it, as she observes that Julius barely knows the girl. The King cites “strategy” and essentially blames the Queen for not birthing a son, i.e., an heir. The Princess opposes this plan by telling the King to let her train as a Knight instead. The Queen says that she’s the one to blame for the Princess’s rebellious nature because when she discovered her training with Linh at a very young age, she allowed it under one condition: the King shouldn’t know about it. And she was right. Because when the King finds out, he throws a misogynistic fit to defend his decision to let his daughter go to bed with Julius to prevent her from going into war and restoring the kingdom’s glory.
‘The Princess’ Ending Explained: How Does The Princess Manage To Kill Julius?
After narrowly escaping Julius’s clutches, Linh, Violet, and the Princess reunite in the castle’s arms cellar, where they gear up to take on the tyrant and his minions. Meanwhile, Julius assembles everyone in the castle hall, hoping that the Princess is going to show up when she sees that he’s about to kill her mother and father. And she does, along with Linh. Since Julius is distracted by that, Violet tries to free Khai and give him a knife as well. But Julius discovers her, takes her to the altar, and forces the priest to marry the both of them. When Linh enters the court, Khai tells everyone to attack the remainder of the guards and bring an end to Julius’s plans to marry either of the daughters.
The Princess takes on Moira, and Linh fights Julius. While the Princess manages to kill Moira with her own whip, Linh takes a brutal blow from Julius that incapacitates her. Khai drags Linh away, and the Princess finally fights Julius. He brings her to her knees. And just when it seems that all hope is truly lost, the Princess sees an opportunity to slice Julius’s throat, while he’s gloating about his brilliance, and takes it. Julius’s head falls to the ground (which is a great blend of practical and visual effects). The King takes his crown back. He tells the crowd to ring the chapel bells till midnight because an heir to the kingdom has been born. He knights the Princess as he understands her worth and admits how wrong he was about her. The Princess rises and celebrates Linh’s survival, ushering in a new era of the kingdom’s chapter.
“The Princess” is a 2022 Drama Action film directed by Le-Van Kiet.
