THE PRINCESS DIARIES MOVIE REVIEW
is the Princess Diaries Movie a worthy book adaptation?
Have you seen the movie all about a teenage girl who learns from her distant grandmother that she is the next in line to rule a country? Read the post for The Princess Diaries Movie Review now.
Did you know that The Princess Diaries is based off of a book series by Meg Cabot? Considered one of the most influential authors for kids and teens, Meg Cabot is known for these fantastic bestsellers:
FROM THE NOTEBOOKS OF A MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCESS SERIES
HEATHER WELLS MYSTERIES SERIES
… the list goes on FOREVER. This woman really knows how to write!
Check out her website HERE for a more complete list!
The Princess Diaries movie is based off of the first three books of the series.
Keep scrolling to see the movie review!
SUMMARY
Mia Thermopolis has just found out that she is the heir apparent to the throne of Genovia. With her friends Lilly and Michael Moscovitz in tow, she tries to navigate through the rest of her sixteenth year.
Check out the IMDB page for other details on the cast and crew, and production.
CHARACTERS
The CHARACTERS are, arguably, one of the most important things that make a movie great!
They need to be diverse in personality, relatable, and interesting! There also needs to be A LOT of them! And I don’t mean a lot of MAIN characters. The background characters are important too!
Lets look at some of the most important ones.
THE GUY WHO SITS ON MIA
I don’t know his name and I don’t even think he comes up in the movie again, BUT his role is so important! For one reason… he sets the vibe. Now, he doesn’t set the vibe for the whole movie, but he sets up the vibe that we get from Mia.
This scene happens very early in the movie: Mia is sitting on a ledge, where there are a ton of other students around her, and someone comes up and accidentally sits on her. He says “Sorry, didn’t see you there.”
HOW DO YOU SIT ON SOMEONE AND NOT NOTICE THEM?
Mia isn’t even shocked or outraged. In fact, in the next scene, she clearly tells her best friend Lily that someone sat on her “again”… AGAIN!? The guy who sat on Mia told us, without words, exactly how to the world sees Mia. I mean, how the world DOESN’T even see Mia.
MIA
We have to talk about the main character for a minute.
Mia Thermopolis is a regular, if not dorky and invisible, teenage girl. Her mom is a quirky artist and her dad, who recently passed away, has had very little involvement in her life.
Her grandmother’s appearance, and the news of their royal status, rocked her world!
Mia starts the movie as an awkward teenage girl with eyebrows that rival those of Frida Kahlo’s, but throughout the movie, she makes a lot of headway and grows into a proper young lady worthy of ruling a country.
Like many teenagers, she feels out-of-place and uncomfortable in her own body. She struggles with classes, has her hobbies, gets bullied, and has a crush on someone that she is afraid to talk to. Being relatable is probably the coolest thing about the main character!
MIA's Mom
As a single mother and quirky artist, Mias moms life is anything but ordinary. They live in a renovated firehouse, which sounds weird, but it is AMAZING!
Forget about houses or lofts, a firehouse is the way to go!
Mia’s mom does not have a heavy role in Mia’s progress throughout the story. For the most part, she is a soundboard for Mia to bounce her problems off of.
She definitely gets the Coolest Mom of The Year Award.
Queen Clarisse
Played by the ever-amazing Julie Andrews, Queen Clarisse is the grandmother of Mia Thermopolis.
She comes in from out of nowhere and delivers some groundbreaking news to Mia – that they are royalty and Mia is next in line to be Queen of Genovia. Queen Clarisse probably thought that Mia would be incredibly happy to hear that she is a princess. Who wouldn’t be happy about that? Mia, is not like other teenage girls, though. Her aspiration is to be invisible, which she does very well.
Queen Clarisse realizes that she needs to take this awkward teenager and 1) turn her into a Princess and 2) convince her to BECOME a princess.
Throughout their time together, Queen Clarisse becomes more of a grandmother to Mia than the Queen. Clarisse actually WANTS to spend quality time with her granddaughter. Eventually, Clarisse is just happy to have Mia in her life and does not care either way if Mia decides to take the throne or continue to be an average teenage girl.
Best Grandma Of The Year Award goes to Queen Clarisse Marie Renaldi!
The Neighbor
Mr. Robutusen is Mia’s neighbor. He is a writer, which he makes pretty clear early on. His commentary on ordinary events, like Mia’s grandmother coming over, are funny and poetic. Instead of being the “comedic relief” in this comedy film, he brings an air of seriousness to a scene.
The Reporters
The reporters in this story have one main role: to summarize what is happening and to promote self-growth and self-respect in Mia.
They often come out as background noise in between scenes and tell us where Mia stands as far as her princess-ing and the latest gossip.
They also create many situations where Mia is placed in the spotlight, out of her comfort zone, and she has to learn how to suck it up and handle it. The reporters in The Princess Diaries movie create big events that drive the story forward. Therefore, they are very important.
THE PRINCESS DIARIES MOVIE REVIEW and RATING
5/5
This movie gets 5 STARS!
If you’ve read other Books 4 Movies reviews, then you know that this rating is based on 5 categories:
- PLOT
- CHARACTERS
- SCRIPT
- ADAPTATION
- RE-WATCHABILITY
PLOT: The Princess Diaries movie has a timeless and original plot that resonates across many audiences (men, women, old, young, book lovers and haters, etc). There is constantly something interesting happening, and the various scenes flow effortlessly.
The CHARACTERS range from funny background characters to relatable friends, to a weird neighbor, to bullies, to multiple love interests.
I’m not going to lie, the acting is a little cringy in some parts, but that’s not because the acting is bad. Its because this movie is from the early-2000s and, well, everything was cringy back then!
The SCRIPT is INCREDIBLE! There are so many funny and loveable lines, its impossible to choose a favorite.
Read this blog all about The Princess Diaries Movie Quotes.
The fourth category is ADAPTATION. Meaning – how well does this movie connect with the book?
Although I wish every great book could be adapted line-by-line and scene-by-scene, that just isn’t possible. Sometimes, creative direction needs to happen. The Princess Diaries movie did an INCREDIBLE job taking three books for teens and turning them into a timeless movie for all ages to enjoy!
Finally, the RE-WATCHABILITY. Not a word, I know, but you know exactly what I mean. The big question is: Will I want to watch this movie again? The answer: YES!
I have probably watched this movie 5 times a year since it came out in 2001, and I will continue to re-watch it until the day I… stop watching movies…
Have you seen The Princess Diaries movie more than once?
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