A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding

A Christmas Prince 2 (2018) - Netflix

Reviewed by L.F. Sue

As I was reminded, after seeing the first movie, I apparently expected a sequel. And frankly with the way they ended this, a third isn’t out of order. Netflix, while not seeing the merits of things like Luke Cage, Daredevil, or even Michelle Wolf does seem to be fully on board the Christmas movie train. I guess the main question you have dear reader, is this better or worse than the first? Seeing as I don’t recall much of the first movie, except that Amber and Emily spent more time together than Richard and Emily, I will say they rectified that situation. Is it enough to make it better?  General  Twitter consensus is no,  but having watched too many of these I’ve become somewhat numb to the ridiculous and outrageous, but not so immune that I needed 2 weeks since I watched Christmas Melody before I queued this up.  I’m only human after all. I maintain I grade not based on merit of the movie (that would be near impossible) but solely on the Hallmark Christmas Drinking Game.

So let us begin with dead relative- check check. Her dead mom, his dead dad, that is why he is king after all. Aldovia seems to be a permanent winter land, and fake trees seem to have no place in the palace. Side note, no mistletoe is around either. Amber is told the story of how Santa got his magical powers from some Princess that was trapped by an Ogre. Very Shrek like, as it wasn’t plot integral and felt no need for further elaborating.  Also, quietly Amber and her friends go through hot chocolate and holiday themed drinks in holiday mugs as they hatch and plot to unravel the mystery of where the Aldovian money went (Amber WAS an 'investigative' reporter, don't forget). I fear the royals probably just had boring tea in their cups, thus the garish mugs.  Within the first 5 minutes there was product advertisement for United Airlines, BMW, and what should be a real restaurant but I don’t think is-  Noodle Chalet. And kudos to Dad Rudy for doing an ugly Christmas sweater all by his lonesome, and whether it was intentional or not his ugly sweater game is strong.

As the title kinda tells you everything, this is a royal wedding, at when else? Christmas! But there is like 90 mins to fill, and they really did the drinking game proud.  To help fill time, there was both  tree selecting and Christmas cookie decorating scenes. Do they get extra points for her picking a Charlie Brown like tree?  Then again, whatever bonus points that could be awarded should be immediately deducted because Amber did insist on a full tree, that’s shaped like a cone. How she arrived at her special uniquely shaped tree is the real mystery here.   Followed closely by how it got decorated into something resembling a normal Christmas tree. Sadly not enough time was spent on the tree situation, and in my opinion, I could do with a tree trimming scene. By the end, there is no magic deal with Santa. The real magic is achieved through hard work, detailed investigating, and some hacking help to uncover who’s been pocketing the Aldovian money. Its either hard work or take a real close look at Simon Dutton. Do you really trust that face? Three acts later, even Queen Helena is filled with the Christmas spirit, which is that nothing is more important than family. They even welcome back terrible cousin Simon (do you remember him from the first? If you’re intrigued, he’s back in the sequel) The real cynic, Mrs. Averill, isn’t really moved by the Christmas Spirit.  And while I can’t report actual snow on Christmas day, there is plenty of snow on the ground already. And as it stands, they are prepared to be snowed in,  they’ll just ride horses in  Alvodia.

Last year’s Christmas Prince became a viral sensation, which still baffles me. This movie also baffles me, but in a different way. Apparently poor Amber didn’t get the memo that weddings aren’t about the bride and groom, it is about showing off. I have new respect for bridezillas, because in some ways they are just trying to reclaim control over a day that is rapidly slipping away from them.  One may just question some of their actions but now I understand their motivation better. That being said, I don’t think Sahil’s ode to a winter wedding dress was all that bad, and will go on record saying it is a better fit for a royal wedding than the dress Amber chose herself. Also let me jump in here to question Amber’s choice of footwear. I get she’s supposed to be laid back and what not, but seriously Chuck Taylors in that kind of snow? Get some boots girl, go Ugg , that would have been excellent product placement. Do you hear me Ugg? You make that happen, and don’t forget who gave you that idea! And while we appreciate the full on hug it out, we’re about to be family, diner man Rudy, we also suspect that Richard and company would have done some coaching about how Rudy was to initially act at his introduction to the royals in Aldovia. I mean at that point, I would be concerned that I wasn’t informed of the rules and protocols. Because much like a wedding, being a royal isn’t about you. And I don’t need to be a princess to have learned that either.  Next random thought is the hacking abilities of Princess Emily. They couldn’t have written this with one of the adults having mad hacking skills, but instead chose a child who has a rocking horse indicating her room is still in its nursery phase? And finally despite the trailer, SPOILER there was no big break up. I think the break up in the first movie was a bigger to do, so all the things in the drinking game list are a bit superfluous as Amber already has her Prince. So the point of this movie remains elusive to me, but grading it solely against the drinking game list it gets  3 vomits.