The Princess
Ephraim Belnap
With a strong cast and some excellent action crew behind it, The Princess is a wholehearted embrace of the concept, "What if the girl from Brave was a kick-ass martial artist?"
Link to the trailer:
The premise is self-contained - a princess of a kingdom has been imprisoned by her fiancé, who will not release her family until she marries him and makes him king. Discontent with her father's peaceful rule, he's determined to take the crown, and has filled the castle with his henchmen. But what he doesn't know is that this princess has spent her time training in the arts of war. And he's about to get a lesson.
The Princess boats a cast and crew you’d expect to see in a theatrical release ten years ago. At a lean ninety minutes, it’s something that might've done good numbers at the box office (or at least DVD sales) in that era. Instead, in the streaming era, it’s a robust, high-quality cult hit, likely to stay in enthusiasts’ lists for a long time. It's violent enough to qualify for an R rating - people bleed when they get hurt. But it doesn't lean into the violence for edginess's sake the way it could easily. Instead, it focuses on the simple Disney formula of a girl claiming her independence, and lets the story hold the excitement. The adult Disney fan finds plenty to enjoy alongside the diehard martial arts junkie.
Whereas modern adult fantasy has increasingly turned into a dark place for women, The Princess remembers the genre's roots - to be a romantic setting for a viewer to escape into. And if you've got a stomach for a little blood, The Princess is a place you'll be happy to go.
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