The Princess Diaries 2 review

Lace wedding dresses and women's rights, that's my kind of Saturday teatime movie!

As a postmodern feminist, I of course expected that the only way to enjoy this film would be ironic. Even more unpromising, it's the sequel not the first movie in the set - normally a guarunteed downer. 

I didn't buy the film for myself, she adds hurriedly.  As a matter of fact I didn't buy it at all.  After months of hinting considering whether it would be appropriate I finally persuaded allowed my daughter to buy it with her birthday money. 

Geeky girl becomes princess.  Princess has to get married - I mean it was going to be so predictable!  OK, OK, a lot of it was deeply predictable but it was great fun.  Julie Andrews is perfect as the Queen Grandmother and Fat Louis and Maurice ... well.  The Piglet and I loved all the dresses and romancing with handsome young Lords (well, OK, the Piglet hid in the cushions and my fella made disgusting smooching noises) and the sliding down the ballroom stairs on mattresses - you do have to see Julie Andrews sliding on a mattress! 

Then at the end, the Princess suddenly stands up in her gorgeous wedding dress and makes a proper old style feminist bid for her rights - who woulda thought it! 

Even better, I beat the Piglet in the Find Your Inner Princess quiz.  She ticked a lot of pink fluffy answers and got told she was a dreamer who needed to get her head out of her book, while I tried to avoid all the typical Princess questions in the hopes of being told I was the Princess's political friend and I got 'strong and sensitive just like Princess Mia'!  Oh yeah, oh yeah, ahah, ahah. 

OK, OK, OK, even better was that the Piglet starting copying some of my answers.  When it asked about There's a new boy in your class, instead of saying she would flirt with him from afar she said she would shake him firmly by the hand and introduce herself and she got to be strong and sensitive too.