The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

There aren't many bigger names in film than Julie Andrews. And directors don't come much more successful than Garry Marshall. So what are these two movie heavyweights doing making these dreadful The Princess Diaries pictures?

The obvious answer is that they're making a lot of money out of the franchise - the first instalment of which was an unexpectedly, and undeservedly, huge hit at the box-office. However, there is something very wrong in the world when the star of The Sound Of Music and Mary Poppins is happy to play second fiddle to a young nobody such as Anne Hathaway. And the fact that the man behind Pretty Woman, Overboard and the hit sitcom 'Happy Days' should squander his talent on so unamusing and charmless a production borders on the tragic.

It's not simply the film's saccharine qualities that make The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement emetic. Blinded by the original's grosses, the director, writer and producers took the brave decision of doing next to nothing new with the material. Sure, we learn that Mia (Hathaway) needs to marry within 30 days in order to be crowned queen of Genovia, but the bulk of the material consists of the young heroine yet again trying to master royal etiquette. So cue long tortuous sequences in which Mia tries to come to grips with archery and the fine art of riding side-saddle.

Besides trying to milk guffaws from unfunny slapstick, The Princess Diaries 2 overly relies on Andrews undercutting her queenly manner as a source of humour. Director Marshall also leans heavily on his good luck charms - Pretty Woman stars Hector Elizondo and Larry Marshall - for laughs. This isn't a problem in the case of the former - Elizondo's a fine performer who deserves much better - but Miller horribly overplays his hand as a 'Queer Eye'-esque fashionista.

With a colour palette lifted from a toy commercial and a benign soundtrack featuring the unchallenging likes of Nora Jones, Pink and Wilson Phillips, The Princess Diaries 2 makes no effort to appeal to anyone who's outgrown their love of ponies. But while Hathaway is shrill and her co-stars are largely anonymous, you have to hand it to Julie Andrews for maintaining her high standards when others might have simply phoned in a performance. Sure, it might be a pointless picture, but Andrews gives it her everything. But no matter how big a fee she received nor how little you pay to see it, The Princess Diaries 2 simply isn't worth it.