The Princess (2022)
This is not the Princess you're expecting. Well, I wasn't anyway. From Hulu and airing on Disney+, along comes Joey King as the eponymous Princess. She's not to be trifled with and has a bloody short temper.
I was expecting a delicate, polite affair with a demure and gracious lead, but boy was I wrong. As has been mentioned by others, and established early on, this is The Raid: In A Pretty Frock.
Lots of female empowerment on display, taking no shit from the men that would do her harm, would be a good message for all young girls everywhere, if only they were old enough to watch it, or for that matter, have any interest in such an unusual idea.
It's not huge on originality, but the main cast is strong enough to make it work when at times it looked like it wouldn't. Dominic Miller as the bad guy is not exactly inspired casting, but nonetheless safe. Kurylenko has already established her credentials as bonafide glaring lunatic on more than one occasion, so her character here was hardly out of left field either.
People appear to have landed on both sides of the fence here, with some complaining of misogyny in reaction to a woman playing a lead most often given to a man, yet others claiming that this is not entertainment as much as it is a lecture and not what it actually is. Well, this actually is, so get used to it. If you're offended by Joey King kicking all kind of ass, then that's probably your problem, not hers. Chloe Moretz was doing this a decade or more ago, with admittedly more style, so it isn't exactly news.
Aside from all the sabre-rattling by them that need to shout the loudest, most normal folk will be interested to know if it's any good or not, rather than any political or woke statement the film either is or is not making.
The performances are fine, it is cast well and looks the part. It's not choregraphed or edited as well as it might be, but the fight scenes are not awful and they are regular. At no point did I find it any more riveting than I found it unbelievable and King certainly earned her pay check. Overall, this is forgettable stuff and an odd curio to add to King's CV. Whether it's well intentioned or not, I'll let you decide. If you think it is, then you can be suitably annoyed that it isn't more memorable.