Does The Princess Diaries hold up? Yes and no. It’s one of the few movies from our childhood that little old me would be ashamed to know we don’t rewatch as often. But really, that’s because it’s also one of the few where its sequel, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, holds up even better. The original film is still iconic and revered for a number of reasons, at the top of the list being its stars Julie Andrews and Anne Hathaway.
It’s rewarding, in a lot of ways, to be a critic who gets to look back at movies from my childhood through a completely different lens and understand what made them special in the first place, why they aren’t perfect, and how their means of aging is part of the charm. Because, really, time matters here, allowing everything that we’ve once loved to be part of a time capsule that represents what life was like then. In more ways than one, the ’90s and early 2000s were full of problematic makeover trends, bullying, and odd savior complexes. And while that much is still present in today’s media, it’s a lot more nuanced than it was back then.
Yet, 25 years later, The Princess Diaries still holds a lot of magic and layers. There’s something comforting about knowing your life won’t always be this bleak, even if the way that it happens is completely bonkers. (Who keeps their child’s royal lineage a secret for years? Why is straight hair considered superior to curly? More importantly, why can’t Genovia be a real place?)
There’s a lot of joy in the ideas presented throughout the movie that works really well, but it’s the execution that fumbles, especially when Hathaway’s Mia is still in school. The concept of a young girl discovering she’s a princess when her estranged grandmother visits sounds like a blast, but it’s the ordinary manners of her life before Genovia that are of its time. I still can’t watch some of those beach scenes without secondhand embarrassment, but everything else—bring it: the performances, the soundtrack, and all the scenic shots of San Fran.
Anne Hathaway has grown so much as an actress, which is fitting that this is the film’s 25th year when she has a number of iconic projects topping charts right now like The Devil Wears Prada 2, The Odyssey, and likely, The End of Oak Street next month. She’s been a comforting actress since she first stepped into the shoes of Mia Thermopolis, and with everything she touches to this day, she ensures that we’ll remember each of the characters she embodies. She ensures that there’s magic in the film, in the same way that Julie Andrews does. That’s why for Hathaway to hold her own alongside the legendary Andrews when she was only 18 is something else entirely. Remarkable. Indescribable. Inimitable. She’s been a star from the start of her career, and is a large part of the reason The Princess Diaries is as special as it is.
Andrews, Hathaway, and also Héctor Elizondo brought to life some of the most stellar moments in the film, and we can’t forget the iconic transformation scene, which is hilariously still referenced today with people mimicking Larry Miller’s Paolo to showcase a big change. The actors brought their A-game, wanting to ensure that even the most ridiculous moments in the film were organic, and that’s exactly what we see in the end result.
Part of what also makes the movie hold up is the sequel. I’m in the minority in not wanting Mia and Michael to end up together despite the fact that the trope is mostly cute and one that I usually adore. The romance in the sequel shines best because this first film is about finding yourself and choosing how to move forward with the information presented to you. And in that sense, it works. It works as a coming-of-age story, centered gorgeously on Mia, and one that’s also bright with sharp writing that makes a majority of the screenplay still hilarious to this day. Fun, flirty, and wildly still quotable, The Princess Diaries remains a staple because of its cast and the nostalgia.
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Now streaming on Disney+: What are your thoughts on The Princess Diaries? Does it hold up for you? Let us know in the comments.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Disney