Review: The Prince and Me 3: A Royal Honeymoon (2008)
The Prince and Me Are Boring 3, or if you want to call the film by it's official title, The Prince and Me: A Royal Honeymoon, is the third instalment in The Prince and Me franchise.
In this film, Paige and Edvard abandon their planned honeymoon destination to go to the fictional land Belavia, so that they can be together in secret and truly relax. However, this plan is foiled when the Prime Minister of Denmark, Polonius, acts as evil as his name suggests by preparing to destroy forests to get to oil. With other troubles along the way such as Paige's ex boyfriend Scott, will Paige and Edvard ever get to have their happy winter honeymoon?
This marks Kam Heskin's second time playing Paige, but gives us Chris Geere as Edvard (or "Eddie", as he is more commonly addressed in this film). To my surprise, Chris Geere slips into the role of Edvard with great ease and manages to be similar to Luke Mably, while bringing something of his own charm into the character. For a start, Chris Geere actually seems happy to be here, unlike Mably in the previous film, and his chemistry with Heskin is better too. A few of their kissing moments are a bit awkward however, and not only because they are interrupted multiple times as an ongoing gag. However, the pair kiss a lot in this film, and they ease into it a bit better during the course of it.
Kam Heskin plays Paige as well as she can, and the character isn't made to look quite so girly and perfect this time around. However, the character of Paige was a problem for me here. I won't be surprised if she legally changes her name to "Mary Sue" in the final installment. Paige is simply too perfect a human being. She never gets upset or angry about anything, never truly speaks out of term in a way that doesn't work out for her in the end, and she never reacts in a way that expresses real emotional depth. She is as flawless as her appearance throughout the entire film (although they do put her in a couple of dodgy outfits, particularly one ugly, almost regency looking old dress at a ball scene, which doesn't make sense as the other women there are dressed in modern ball gowns). She is also the only female character with any speaking lines in this film, so she has no female interaction at all. This is a shame, as I feel that this could have expanded on her lack of depth.
Paige's angelic characterisation was particularly highlighted for me with one aspect of the film. Paige's ex-boyfriend Scott has secretly written a tell-all book about her, which later comes to light in a situation where it is used against Edvard to blackmail him. However, we only know that it would be bad for Paige if the book is released. We never truly find out why that is. I don't believe for an instant that Paige has ever done anything bad in her life. The worst thing I can think of is that maybe she once kissed her boyfriend... with tongue!
However, Paige's niceness is used effectively for what is my favourite scene in the film. After Edvard has been confronted with the existence of the book and how it will be used to blackmail him and Paige if he continues to fight against Polonious' oil plans, Edvard reveals that he knows Scott kissed Paige the previous night (something she had tried to tell him that morning, but Edvard was summoned to a meeting before she could). Once Paige reveals she didn't kiss Scott back and slapped him off, Edvard admits to her that the book exists and is there to be used against them. They have a very calm, mature conversation about all of this, which ends with them saying that they love each other and kissing. A lot of films wouldn't do this. In the previous film alone, Edvard got angry at Paige for hugging a male friend. The revelation that a key love interest was kissed by someone who isn't their partner, isn't met here with an angry row, a lonely montage and grand miscommunication. They actually talk about the problem and work through it like mature adults who care about each other. Hollywood, can we see some more of that please?
Additonally, I personally enjoy seeing how an onscreen couple functions when there aren't any real severe stakes to separate them. Are they still interesting? Maybe not entirely, but Heskin and Geere do keep their characters likeable and comfortable to keep watching, which isn't as easy as one might perceive. It is also good to see these two actually get involved in a cause that relies on their duties as King and Queen to solve it. They are fighting for something more than just each other, and they are doing it together. There is one ball scene, but it there isn't a scene dedicated to Paige getting dolled up for it beforehand. Instead, Paige and Edvard sit and talk with the Prince of the land about the matter at hand. It's refreshing, and I'm glad to see Paige has upgraded in her struggles from itching powder in the last film.
To a certain degree, that is.
Now, if you read my review of the previous film in this series, you may remember how I said Clemency Burton-Hill as Kirsten was the weakest actor in it. Well, I misspoke.There was actually a character called Henrick, who was incredibly hammy and over the top, I instantly disliked him intensely. However, he was only in one scene and his overall screen time was less than two minutes, so I chose not to mention it. In this film, the actor who played Henrick (Joshua Rubin) is back, but oddly he is now portraying an entirely new character, Oliver. You would never be able to tell that it is a new character because he is identical to the one he played in The Prince and Me 2 both in appearance, role and my general disdain for him. I can't remember the last time I so sincerely despised an onscreen character. Rubin delivers a ghastly, over the top performance (to his credit, he is not the only one here to do so) and I felt irritated as well as slightly disgusted each time he came on screen.
Joshua Rubin as Oliver.
Todd Jensen who played Polonius and Adam Croasdell who played Scott where also unbelievable and hammy in their roles, but at least I believed in the other characters responses to them. Polonius is supposed to be an evil villain, and he is perceived as such by Paige and Edvard. Likewise, Scott is someone who Edvard needs to be suspicious of, and who Paige trusts hopefully due to their past together. He pulls off both beliefs these characters need to have about him.
Oliver, meanwhile, is so ridiculously cartoonish in his being evil that he should have a moustache to twirl, but I can only presume that he twirled it into oblivion because he is so clearly a bad guy. Yet, for no apparent reason, Paige and Edvard trust him (admittedly with some caution, but nonetheless they trust him), despite a terrible first meeting in which Oliver is with the construction workers who want to tear down the forest. Anyone can see he is a horrible, creepy, stupid villain caricature just looking at him and yet when our protagonists don't see it, it only makes them seem stupid. You begin to wonder how two such stupid people are able to try and run a country when you have this repulsive thing sabotaging everything of there's in plain sight.
Maybe that would be fine. Maybe, if he had a really horrible punishment at the end, there would be some slight comfort for me at the end of this film.
But NOPE. He is never punished! The last shot of him is him being pulled by a sleigh in the direction of an airport a while away, as indicated by a sign. He looks a bit unhappy. But that's it? He never gets confronted for his actions, he never receives any acknowledgement of any kind for all of the things he's done, to royalty nonetheless. He just gets pulled away on a sled by a couple of ponies.
Heck, throw a girl in there with him and that's a happily ever after!
I have to say, I missed Jonathan Firth as Søren, who was barely in this film. It's fine he wanted to stay behind while the couple were on their honeymoon, but as Edvard's right hand man, surely he should have been more involved once it became a political affair? Unless he wasn't allowed to because he is too smart next to Oliver...
Characters aside, the cinematography and editing were as decent as a film with this sort of budget requires. More shots of characters talking were simple shot, reverse shot, shot, repeat cycle. Obvious stock footage was used to capture the wildlife of Belavia, but it is decent quality stock footage none the less, and isn't laughably out of place.
It did interest and amuse me somewhat that they chose to have the majority of this film take place in a fictional place. I wonder if the reaction of Danes to the Denmark shown in the prior two films had any influence over this. I wouldn't be surprised if budgeting had something to do with it, yet the exterior shots and sets all look decent.
The Prince and Me: A Royal Honeymoon overall was entirely predictable and mostly boring, apart from when a certain loathsome character appears (which is sadly quite frequently). The two leads do well, but they are not the original Paige and Edvard from film one, if that is what you are searching for. I for one, am happier to go into the fourth and final instalment of this series knowing it is Chris Geere at Kam Heskin's side and not Luke Mably.
If you like a simple romance, and enjoy being irritated to great lengths by hammy villains, maybe this is the film for you. I did enjoy it more than the second one in this series. Otherwise, I do not recommend.
THE SCOREBOARD
Total: 8
Is this really a chick flick or will men like it too? This is an interesting case, as this film doesn't have enough qualities to make it pass my Chick Flick Chick Checklist test, yet I know it is a definite chick flick. This is not a film for men. I think it failed the test because Paige and Edvard are now a married couple. It is rare to have a couple solidly committed from start to finish in one of these films, and not have them meet or trying to overcome an obstacle in their relationship for the entire film. That is something to commend this film for at least, although the delivery of it is unfortunately underwhelming.
Would I recommend this film? No, I think anyone who would even want a film this fluffy would be bored by it. Also, I want to save people from Oliver.
Quote of the film: "I wonder where they are. I hope they didn't have an accident." - Oliver about Paige and Edvard, after setting up an situation so that they would have an accident.
Film rating: 3/10
